Melody Riddle and the Goblet of Fire
by lisa602
Summary: Melody's fourth year is coming up and her father is getting ready for his rise to strength and power. He is weak now but with the help of Wormtail and Melody his plans go forward with bringing Barty Crouch Jr. into Hogwarts. Something big is happening this year and Melody wonders if she'll have to tell everyone she knows the truth about her dad. READ MELODY RIDDLE ALERT IN PROFILE
1. Chapter 1

"_Evasivee procuro_," I said with a smile, taking care that my wand didn't cast the spell. I had just created it. With the knowledge that my dad was coming back to power soon, I had to have a spell to put on his followers should they be nearly caught and tortured for information about those following the orders of Lord Voldemort... I had to be kept in the strictest confidence so I could stay in school.

I am a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy; granddaughter to infamous wandmake and seller, Garrick Ollivander. I am also daughter to the feared wizard, Lord Voldemort... but I'm not supposed to know that. My mother, Orele Ollivander, my family members, and every wizard that knows about this has been keeping it from me. The only one who didn't was the Dark Lord himself, showing up to me in my first year at Hogwarts. After this summer I will be entering my fourth year.

All my homework was already finished – even my extra work for Professor Severus Snape, my Head of House. I am in Slytherin at Hogwarts, the other Houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. It only makes sense to be in Slytherin because on my dad's side I am a descendent of the House founder, Salazar Slytherin.

I know... it's a lot and will probably have you believe I am following in my dad's footsteps. Wrong! I'd rather die than to follow him, but in my mindset the only way he can be destroyed is if he comes back to power. The only one who can kill him would be Harry Potter – the boy who survived the killing curse my father threw at him, ending in him losing his powers and going off into hiding. I have been helping him, I even got his more than useless follower Peter Pettigrew back to him just a few months ago at the end of the schoool year.

I am the smartest of my House at school – possibly even smarter than the Ravenclaws who always get the better overall grades of any House... at least that's what my Uncle Gerald and my friends say to me. My mom's whole side of the family was in Ravenclaw, and I thought I would be in Ravenclaw too. I am a part of a tutor program at Hogwarts, Professor Snape let me in as a first year surprisingly, and I already know more than a sixth year. I'll be taking my O.W.L. Exams this year, though they're meant for fifth years, and I'll take my N.E.W.T.s the following year though _they_ are meant for seventh years.

That's probably the whole jist of me, in case you had no idea. I'm just up at about three in the morning creating a helpful spell... and I just hope it works –

I heard a pop from downstairs and stopped to listen. I slowly stood and left my room, going down the staircase nearby and into the dining room where I saw the very servant of my dad. Peter Pettigrew – also known as Wormtail.

He was a short, balding man, his hair also graying. He had a pointed nose and small, watery eyes.

He gave a whimper when he saw me, "Y-_You're_ the D-Dark Lord's daughter?" he asked.

Right. When I last saw him he didn't know me and was in captivity of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Sirius Black had taken the blow of the murders of Harry Potter's parents, Lily and James, and had been in Azkaban for twelve years for it when it wasn't his fault, but Peter Pettigrew's. He broke out just so he could kill Peter, but Harry had stopped him, saying he could go to the dementors which are soul-sucking creatures that just being near them makes every happy thought of yours go away. Except mine.

Peter had been undercover for twelve years as Ron Weasley's rat, Scabbers – Ron is Harry Potter's best friend. Ron and his family had been in the newspaper about their trip to Egypt in which they had won a lot of money, and when Sirius saw Peter on Ron's shoulders, knowing he would be at Hogwarts where Harry was, he couldn't let it stay that way.

I sighed, "Yeah, and you're the one who gave me a concussion in your effort to get away." Yeah, Remus Lupin was a teacher at Hogwarts for that year under the Defense Against the Dark Arts. While we were going up to the castle to get Peter to the dementors and clear Sirius's name, the full moon showed up. Remus was bitten as a young kid by a werewolf, and he hadn't taken his potion that night which would have made him safe, so he transformed and could have bitten any of us had Sirius and I not been there to calm him down. Sirius and I are Animagi – meaning we can transform into a specific animal – he is a large black dog and I'm a cobra. Peter is one as well, of course, as a rat. Peter took Remus' wand and cast a spell at me to get away, I fell back and got a horrible concussion, easily remedied by the school's nurse, Madam Pomfrey. I cast a teleportation spell at him before I lost consciousness that brought him to my father.

I walked up to him and took him with me out of the house, mostly pushing him. Once outside, I closed the door behind us and said, "Are you _crazy_? At least send me an owl so I can come out, what if one of my family members had been awake instead of me?"

He whimpered, "So sorry, milady, I –"

"Whatever," I said with a roll of my eyes. "What do you want?"

"The D-Dark Lord wanted m-me to come g-get you..."

"Well, why didn't you say so? Come on, let's go, there's not a lot of time to waste!" I said.

He nodded quickly, and held out his arm nervously. I smirked and took his arm, he Disapparated to a house that had a creepy aura about it. Of course, what else would be the homely abode of Lord Voldemort?

"This is the R-Riddle House..." Peter said, "it was the home of the family on your grandfather's side."

My grandfather... a mere muggle who had had a baby with a descendent of Salazar Slytherin.

"How is my dad? Does he have a body?" I asked as he led me through the house.

"I-In a way... he still wants you for the creation of the potion to give him a stronger body," Peter said. "He's not very good looking, if that's what you hope for –"

I laughed. "All the better to scare his foes."

We walked into a room, a fire lit in the grate possibly to keep dad warm. A chair was kept close to the fire, facing away from the door, dad was probably in it. On the floor behind the chair was an old man, his walking stick near him. He looked as though he'd been scared to death.

"My Lord..." Peter said. "Your daughter is here."

"Thank you, Wormtail," he said, his voice cold and high-pitched. When I first heard his voice when I was eleven, the hairs on the back of my neck had stood up. But now I gave a face to show I was more than happy to hear it. I could just see all the hairs on Peter's body stand up, though he'd been with him for a couple months.

"Hi, dad," I said.

"Melody, it's good of you to come," he said.

"I will always be there for you when you need me," I said. "Is there anything in particular you would like for me to know? Perhaps the point of the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins?"

Bertha was reported missing by a friend of hers who was a friend of my Uncle Gerald to him... I knew the only one behind it could be dad. Though it was odd that no one reported it to the Ministry so they could go search for her.

He laughed, "Does anyone suspect me or Wormtail?"

"Not at all. Neither of you come to anyone's mind... just mine," I said.

"See Wormtail? No suspicion... he's been worried."

"Well, worry is what you get when you ask for a cowardly man to help you on you way to power," I said.

"I returned to him on my own –" Peter started saying, rather courageously. I cut him down easily.

"No, no, no, you may swear that you returned to him on your own, but you didn't. Hadn't you ever wondered why you suddenly appeared to him as you ran away from us? It was me who transported him to you – you wouldn't have been able to find him, nor would you have looked for him, had it not been for me." I stared him down, he whimpered and backed away from me. "You cast a spell that pushed me away from you... I must say that was a good spell, it gave me a concussion, but before I lost consciousness I made sure I did what Lord Voldemort wanted. You."

"N-No, that's not –"

I smirked victoriously, "Oh, yes. That's _exactly_ how it went, _Wormtail_. Don't even try to deny it. Indeed you have been faithful so far, taking good care of my dad, but were it not for me you would have gone straight into hiding."

Wormtail stayed silent, looking as if he was contemplating his next words.

"Say anything else and I will not hesitate to curse you," I said. "I can read your mind. So I knew in the Shrieking Shack that you did think about going back to my father on the one thought that you had his wand. You would never use it knowing it belonged to him." His eyes widened. I turned to dad, "I trust he gave you your wand back?"

"Yes," he said, sounding thoroughly amused. _What am I now? A jester?_ I thought. "Wormtail, fetch some more food from the village, I believe we are nearly out."

"Y-Yes, my Lord. Right away, my Lord," Wormtail said, scuttling out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Coward," I said in Parseltongue. Parseltongue is snake language, only descendents of Salazar Slytherin can speak it. Harry Potter can speak it too, only because of the night my dad tried to kill him when he was a baby. He ended up putting some of himself inside Harry.

"Yes... but he is my best hope of health... Come, Melody... I want you to look at me with your own eyes." Dad replied in Parseltongue. Whenever we had conversations between just the two of us, we spoke in Parseltongue. He sounded as though he was about to test me.

I braced myself. I already knew he wasn't good-looking, so I could hopefully withstand the look of him. Making my way over to the front of the chair where he sat, I pitied him instantly but wouldn't show it. I didn't scream or back away, but instead lowered myself to my knees in front of the chair to be eye-to-eye with him.

He was in the shape of a crouched human child. His red eyes stayed with him, and he was hairless, but scaly-looking. His skin was a dark, raw, reddish black. His arms and legs were very feeble, but he kept his wand at his side, and his face was as I had seen him before, flat and snakelike.

His smile showed he was pleased. "You are braver than Wormtail, and _he_ is a supposed Gryffindor."

I chuckled, "He is afraid of how you look, I see."

"He may not say so, but he regrets ever staying with me. He flinches when he looks at me... shudders when he touches me..." he spat.

I brought my hand up to one of his, touching it delicately. His skin really did feel scaly. "If it's any consolation..." I said softly, wondering if I should really say what I was thinking of saying. _Oh, what the heck,_ I thought. "But _I _think you look adorable."

He laughed, a cold, sharp laugh. "I wondered what you were thinking there."

The only reason he couldn't read my mind was because I kept it blocked whenever I was around him. It helped, because the real pivot behind my thoughts was how much I hated myself for helping him. Bringing him back to power just made me clench my teeth, but I couldn't let him think that. Being behind the scenes – knowing his plans let me know what I could try doing to stop a bit of it. Sometimes there was nothing, so I just followed through with his plan regrettingly.

I knew how to block my thoughts, my feelings, since I was young. I'd lived in America, and now in England, I was surrounded by people with accents. With my American accent, I certainly stood out in a crowd of people. In America, I hadn't known I was a witch and lived with my mom and my first stepdad until I was nearly eleven.

"At least I speak my mind so you don't have to wonder for long," I said, giving him a smile. "Now, this business with Bertha Jorkins..."

"Wormtail brought her to me, and she held some very valuable information that I tortured out of her. She had a memory charm cast upon her so she wouldn't say this, but... one of my followers is still alive, though I'd thought him to be dead. Barty Crouch Jr., son of Barty Crouch –" I'd heard of him, "– is showing to be my most faithful servant. His father had switched him and his dying mother in Azkaban – after they both took Polyjuice Potion – and has him under the Imperius Curse under an Invisibility Cloak _in his home_."

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"We act after the Quidditch World Cup – are you going to it?"

I nodded, "With the Malfoys."

He nodded too, "I heard from that woman that Alastor Moody – renowned auror – will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts this year. I have some Polyjuice Potion at my disposal and want Barty to take place of Moody. He needs to be in the school this year because there is something happening and I need an inside man who will have all the time in the world to guide Harry Potter in it."

I chuckled, "I guess you don't want to tell me what's happening?"

He smiled, "If it's a secret to all students, it would very suspicious if you know... but I will tell you that I have given rules to Barty to teach you how to Apparate since we can't at the moment."

Students under the age of seventeen couldn't use magic outside of school. Every student had a trace on them that – should they use any sort of magic – would warn the Ministry of Magic about it. A first time is a warning and a second time you get expelled from Hogwarts and your wand broken in half.

"I could get Professor Snape to," I said.

He looked at me thoroughly, "Do you not trust my judgment?" He sounded threatening.

I chuckled, _that's debatable_, "In no way am I questioning your judgment in him, but Professor Snape _is_ my private tutor. Private lessons with 'Moody' could make him jealous."

He shook his head, "It would be better for Barty to teach you. He would give you free reign."

I nodded, "Okay then."

"The plan will work... it _will_ work..."

Wormtail came back a short while later and returned me home, it was about six and – of course – no one was up yet. No one liked waking up early and since Blake came into the family, it was hard to get _any_ sleep.

Blake was my baby half-brother, I had another one in America with my first step-dad but I don't know his name. My second step-dad was the infamous Gilderoy Lockhart, he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher my second year at Hogwarts. I hated him. He was a definite fake and I was happy when he lost his memory and went to St. Mungo's permanently. Mom had the baby during my third year at Hogwarts.

Blake had Gilderoy's wavy blonde hair, but the Ollivander silvery gray eyes. I vowed to make him much better than his dad had ever been. I heard Blake's crying and the groans of every single person in the house.

"I'll get him!" I shouted out, running up the stairs to Blake's room where he lay in his crib bawling his eyes out. I gently picked him up and bounced him lightly.

He slowly reduced his tears to whimpers.

"Who's a cutie?" I said softly in a babylike voice. "_Who's_ a cutie?"

Blake giggled, his small face lighted up in a smile.

"That's right! _You_ are!" I cooed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why must you coddle him so?" Gerald asked irritably, coming into the room with ruffled hair and bleary eyes. My uncle was one to speak his mind very bluntly, he and my mother didn't get along very well. Both had curly brown hair and the Ollivander eyes, my grandma was the only odd one out with bright blue eyes.

"I love him..." I said, cuddling Blake closer. "I mean, he_ is_ my little brother."

"I never did that with Orele when she was born, and she turned out just fine!" he said.

"Oh, so that's why you two never got along! You never showed her any love when she was younger! Let me guess – you mostly ignored her?" I said

Gerald rolled his eyes, and walked away.

I looked at Blake, "I'm right," I said to him.

"I heard that!" I heard Gerald shout as he went down the stairs.

Grandma came into the room and smiled, "Here now, I'll take Blake." I handed him to her, and he started making baby noises while smiling. He liked grandma best. "Ah, now," she said, and then looked at me. "Dear, you're still in the clothes you wore yesterday."

She's just about the only one who can remember things like that.

"I was up all night," I said. "I didn't think about changing into pajamas..." I _really_ wanted to change the subject. I was up all night only because I knew Wormtail was coming, and he didn't even have to tell me! It started happening in July, I just knew what was going to happen before it did. Professor Trelawney – the Divination teacher at Hogwarts – _did_ say I would get my 'Inner Eye', but I hadn't actually believed her. I looked at Blake, seeing my new topic, "He only talks with _you_, it's like you're a therapist and he's spilling his deepest darkest secrets to you!"

Grandma laughed. "Gerald's noticed that, too. Yet he has no right to complain about it, because he never cares for Blake unless there's no other choice."

A knowing smile came on my face, "Well, that's Gerald for you."

She gave a small chuckle, "Go get get changed now, dear, you've got some work to do today. I'll let Orele sleep in... she needs a break."

I nodded in agreement and left to my room. On my bed was my cat, Bodoujn, sleeping soundly. He awoke and sat up when I came in. I pet his soft black, furry head and went to my wardrobe for something to wear. I settled on jean shorts and a black t-shirt with words on it saying 'Cute But PSYCHO'.

Bodoujn meowed in approval.

"Thanks," I said, sitting down on the bed to get my sneakers on. I looked to my bedside table, there was my list of supplies I needed to get for school.

Fourth year students will require:

_Dress Robes (only for special occasions that will occur through the year)_

_The Standard Book of Spells; Grade 4 _by Miranda Goshawk

_The Standard Book of Spells; Grade 5 _by Miranda Goshawk

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

_Defensive Magical Theory _by Wilbert Slinkhard

_Rune Dictionary_

_Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms_

_Spellman's Syllabery_

_Advanced Run Translation_

Mom had already gotten my books, but she promised that before I left for the Quidditch World Cup we would go to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and get me fitted in dress robes. I had a feeling she was going to take me today when she woke up – take me away from the wand shop I help grandpa with for 'lunchbreak' for me... I still hadn't told any of them that I was seeing things before they happened. Anyways.. what in the world did we need dress robes for, though? Something fancy was going on, it seemed...

Along with this had been a letter from Professor Snape. I had been all ready for something that required me to send him a letter back, but he was short and precise as always. All it said was that I only need the _Rune Dictionary_ for this year in my Ancient Runes class, but he was allowing me the other books – also the added books; _The Standard Book of Spells; Grade 5 _by Miranda Goshawk and _Defensive Magical Theory _by Wilbert Slinkhard, which were designated for fifth year students – considering I was pretty much going to be finishing up school in my fifth year at Hogwarts. I was going to take my O.W.L.s so I needed fifth year books – as it was meant for fifth years – and for the year afterward, I was taking the N.E.W.T.s, meant for seventh year students so I needed sixth and seventh year books. I still had to figure out what I wanted to do after that...

I went downstairs where grandpa ate his breakfast cheerfully – bacon and eggs. I didn't want anything with such a strong smell so I took some bread and put it in the toaster. Thank goodness grandpa allowed mom and I to get a toaster! He wanted mom to cook with magic, which was why I bought cookbooks for her when I went to get my schoolbooks for my second year at Hogwarts.

The toaster clicked, and I had just taken it out when grandpa said, "Let's go!" He then proceeded to grab my arm and instantly Disapparate to the shop. _Good thing I hadn't decided on a bigger breakfast_, I thought, taking a bite of my toast and going to the door to unlock the shop.

We stood around in the shop for most of the time, few people came in surprisingly. They usually waited until the last minute, so they were possibly waiting until the very, _very _last minute. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

"Looks like you didn't need to come today," grandpa remarked. "There's not that big of a crowd."

"I just thought it best that I still come, I love doing this... While I'm gone to the Quidditch World Cup, do you think Gerald would help you out here? At least for a couple of days, surely he won't mind." I said hopefully, but grandpa voiced the opinion that was at the back of my head.

His snort said his thoughts clearly. "Oh yeah, and while he's working his hardest, Orele will suddenly find the perfect man and ride away into the sunset with him."

I burst into almost non-stop laughter. Too perfect a sarcastic sentence... just priceless! Now all I needed was for mom to come in –

In came mom, and I _really_ couldn't help my laughter then.

She gave grandpa a glance, but he just snickered and shrugged his shoulders.

"Lunch break, Melody," she said.


	3. Chapter 3

_Knew it, **knew** it,_ I kept thinking to myself as we made our way to Madam Malkin's. The Inner Eye certainly awoke in me... however bloody annoying it was. How could Professor Trelawney stand it? It certainly didn't make her a favorite teacher to all, even Hermione called her off for bein a loony.

Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor friend of mine who I talk to secretly in the library and who is such a hardworking person that she and I pretty much are at the smartest in each of our Houses. The only thing I'm not sure of is how we compare to the whole of Ravenclaw House – the smart group. I also talk to the Weasley twins, Fred and George, brother to Ron Weasley who is friends with Harry Potter and Hermione. Only last year, I introduced my other Slytherin friend to them, Becky Figsund.

I couldn't get Draco Malfoy or Marcus Flint to become friends with them – the Gryffindors – mortal enemies as they make each other out to be. I've been dating Marcus since Christmas, and for the summer he was off to France with his parents for work so we'd been sending letters to each other for the few months.

As for Becky... we'd taken to visiting each other on the weekends. Draco had asked her if she wanted to come to the Quidditch World Cup with us but she had said – quite bluntly – that she wasn't interested in it. She is a blunt but hilarious person, I honestly say that I have never regretted becoming friends with her or introducing her to my Gryffindor friends. Her and the Weasley twins together makes never ending laughing absolutely possible. Becky was also one to taunt Draco, I guess you could say it was one her charms – that and her signature Cheshire-like smile.

Mom and I made our way into the robe shop, which I hadn't been in for about three years because my mom used a charm she said she created that magically sized up my school robes so I could continue to wear them instead of continuously going to get fitted again. This shop was where I first met Draco.

Madam Malkin, a squat witch dressed in maroon robes walked over to us. "Hello, Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I need dress robes for –" I began... but I didn't even know what for. Madam Malkin gave a knowing look, _at least she knows._

"Right – dress robes... allow me to bring you back here so you can be fitted. Do you know what color of fabric you'd like?" she asked.

"Uh..." I thought. What color _did_ I want? Curse it, I didn't think of this! "Mom?"

"You have always looked good in baby blue," she remarked with a small smile.

"Okay then," I said, turning back to Madam Malkin, "baby blue, please."

She smiled, "I can just see it now... you _would_ look good with baby blue. Hold on for a few minutes."

"_I_ never knew I looked good in it," I said. "When was the last time I ever wore blue at all unless they were jeans?"

"I haven't seen you in baby blue for a while... I bought so many clothes for you when you were a small toddler though. You were such a beautiful baby girl. Everyone had to comment about how good you looked in it, and so I believe you will _still_ look good in it." Mom was being emotional again. I'm fourteen, I'm not leaving you anytime soon... well, I mean I'm not moving out of the house soon, I'll still visit for summer... Never realized how confusing my thoughts got.

A stout woman with _really curly_ black hair came in with a nervous-looking young girl. The girl looked nothing like her – she had wavy brown hair and a small nose. I'd also like to mention the fact that the woman had an extremely _large_ nose. The woman wore a rose dress with a dark blue background while the girl looked as though she were in rags – both of them just _looked_ out of place in the wizard world.

I pointed them out to mom as Madam Malkin shouted out to them, "I will be with you in a minute!"

She came back to me in a rush with the baby blue fabric.

"Are you working alone today?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. When I saw that it wasn't as big of a crowd today, I let my helpers have the day off..." she said, fiddling with some needles.

"Don't hurry yourself," I said quickly as she dropped a few needles. "Slow down and do that young girl first. I can stand to wait until I'm fitted, it's no problem."

"Oh, I wouldn't dare! You got here first!" she said, looking at me in shock.

"And she's new, probably just about to start Hogwarts... oh, please, Madam Malkin, allow her to go first. Don't rush to get her fitted either, take as much time as you need. My mom and I can decide to ourselves what we'd like the robes to have other than just the plain baby blue."

She looked between me and the young girl standing just looking around her in awe. "_Oooh_," Madam Malkin finally said. "You're so kind." She bustled away from me toward the young girl.

"That was really nice of you, Melody," mom said, wrapping her arms around me, hugging me tightly. "You make me so proud."

"Just look at what she's _wearing_ compared to that woman..." I said softly. "They've obviously never been in the wizarding world before. I certainly doubt as well that they're related to each other even slightly."

"What are you thinking?" she asked me.

I held my mouth open, unsure what to say, and finally, "_I_ have no idea."

Madam Malkin led the young girl over to a stool while the woman stood around looking impatient.

I snorted, "See? This woman would probably be throwing a tantrum at how this place is run if I hadn't let her go first."

Mom laughed.

I broke out of her arms to go take a look at laces. There were a few different patterns, but I especially liked the ones with snakes on them.

"You are not getting that lace," mom said.

I laughed, "Well, why not? It certainly speaks me."

"Everyone already knows you're in Slytherin, you don't need lace to confirm it once more. And some people already know your Animagus."

Yup, I am an Animagi. I can turn into a cobra at will, the only marks showing it was me were my gray eyes considering I didn't have any scars.

"Okay then... how about this?" I asked, pulling out a lace with a flowery pattern.

"That could be good if placed on your upper back and shoulders," she said.

I nodded in agreement.

"Hello?"

We turned around to see the woman, her sharp black eyes looking over me as though I were a terrible disgrace. Her voice sounded polite, but I could just see behind her large, sweet smile the cogs of meanness.

"Oh, hello," my mom said, instantly becoming friendly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but are you familiar with this _wizarding world_ here?" she asked.

"Yes, I am a wizard myself," mom said, holding out her hand. "My name is Orele Ollivander. And this is my daughter, Melody Riddle."

"That's funny," she said, ignoring my mom's hand, "she doesn't have your last name. Why is that? I thought sure you two were related considering – well, I guess maybe not. Is she an orphan as well? If so –"

"I'm not an _orphan_," I said, taken aback. "I am her daughter, it's just I have my dad's last name."

"Ohh, silly me, so sorry!" she said, not really sounding sorry at all. When she said sorry, she didn't even look at me, but at my mom. "Why does your daughter have an American accent, might I ask?"

I couldn't repress my snort. Mom gave me a look that said _be nice_.

"I raised her in America myself –"

"Without her father?"

"... He died when she was born –"

"Oh, what a shame!"

It continued like that, my mom would start to say something and the woman would just interrupt her. After the subject of my stepdad and half-brother in America came up, I couldn't keep myself quiet anymore.

"I thought you were going to ask us about the wizarding world, and not our personal affairs?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Melody!" mom said in surprise. "How about you go talk to that young girl there?"

I rolled my eyes but did as she said, tossing the lace I'd been holding onto the baby blue fabric. I heard them continue talking.

"I'm sorry about Melody, she gets very touchy about her Muggle stepfather... she's about to start her fourth year at Hogwarts and we just came here..." my mom's voice tapered off as I walked away to a point where I couldn't hear their conversation.

I went up to the girl, who was still getting fitted. Now she _definitely_ wasn't related to that woman, for this girl's eyes were hazel and not black... It suddenly occurred to me that the woman asked if I was an orphan _too_. Oh... well, it makes sense I guess, the woman probably worked at the orphanage and was the one trusted to take this girl to Diagon Alley.

"Hello," I said to her.

The girl looked down at her feet and softly said, "Hi..."

"You're starting at Hogwarts this year?"

She nodded.

I gave her an encouraging smile, _maybe she'll warm up to me_. "I'm about to start my fourth year there, thought I might be able to let you know how amazing it is." The girl looked up at me with some slight hope in her eyes. "You'd love it," I continued, "everyone who goes says it's like a home to them – including me."

"But would an orphan enjoy it?" she asked.

I thought back to my conversations with dad. His dad had abandoned his mother before he was born, and his mother died in childbirth. She gave him to an orphanage to live... he had said Hogwarts was the best place in the world, that it was the only place he ever wanted to be. But obviously, to others, I couldn't possibly know that.

I gave a look as though pondering it, "Well, probably. Do you live in an orphanage?"

She nodded and looked over at the woman, "She's our sort of overseer... and she's the worst. Thinks all children should come into an orphanage and be trained to act _proper_. To be _disciplined_."

I looked over at the woman. "Oh, was _that_ the look behind her eyes?" I asked, turning back to the girl, "I thought she just had a disliking for anyone with parents... well, she did look as though she wanted to hit me upside the head."

"That's Miss Roachers for you," the girl said.

I snorted, "Miss Roachers, eh? My mom told me her name and she didn't say hers."

The girl bent over to whisper to me, "She teaches us to be polite while _she_ has no manners at _all_."

"Ah, a hypocrite, eh?" I said.

She nodded vigorously, and then hesitated, "Do all wizards have regular school too, then? Before going to Hogwarts to learn magic? Since, you said hypocrite –"

"Oh, I have no idea... never thought to ask," I said in realization. "Don't get me wrong, I'm a full witch. Both my mom and dad went to Hogwarts. If you're wondering, I was raised in America and didn't know I was a witch until I was ten."

"_Really_?" she asked, sounding quite excited and suddenly breaking her slight nervousness. "This man named Professor Dumbledore came to the orphanage and said my parents were wizards, too! Only my mom went to Hogwarts, my dad went to Durmstrang – he was Bulgarian!"

My mouth dropped open, "No way!"

She nodded. "When they died I was put in the orphanage in London. I wish I could've gone to one in Bulgaria though, that would have been such a _cool_ _accent_ to have."

"_Pf_! Believe me, _any_ accent is better than an _American_ accent... it's just _so plain_!"

The girl giggled, her hazel eyes were so bright with happiness that it made me happy.

I suddenly realized, "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Melody Riddle." I held out my hand.

She took it without a moment's hesitation, "Lissy Parker."

"Oh, dear, could you stand still?" Madam Malkin said. I had completely forgotten she was there.

"Sorry!" Lissy said, taking her hand away to stand straight again.

Madam Malkin looked up at me, "Thank you, by the way, for not rushing me. I guess it is a better idea to start with Lissy here, than you, being as Miss Roachers has quite the temper with her impatience."

Lissy looked confused.

"I was here first, to get fitted for dress robes – some odd occasion that's taking place this year," I said. "You came in, and what with you being brand new, I thought it better for you to go first."

"Thanks..." Lissy said, looking touched. "No one... no one has ever done that for me before."

I was taken aback. "Mhmm well hey! I can be your first friend. At least you can know where to sit when you need to get on the train."

Lissy gave a grateful smile. "Yes! That would be great!"

"Are you _done yet_?" Miss Roachers had come over.

I tsked to myself, but it looked like the woman heard because she glared at me.

Madam Malkin walked away to get a few more things for Lissy's robes, and mom was by the fabric laid out for when I was to be fitted. So I was able to take matters into my own hands considering this Miss Roacher.

"Tsk at me again and I'll take it into my own hands to punish you, since it seems your _mother_ hasn't!"

"I've certainly been shouted at worse than this," I said, causing Lissy to give a small laugh.

"_Shut it_!" she said to Lissy, and turned back to me. "If Lissy has lost her ability to obey, then I'll blame you. You'll never see the light of day _again!_"

"Do you think you're being brave giving me an empty threat?" I asked her.

"Oh, I tell you, it's not empty at all!"

"Think again," I said softly. "Out of a fight, who do you think would win?"

"Well, me of –"

"Hah! I'd like to see how I could even end up with a scratch after going against you in a fight. Need I remind you who's got a wand in this confrontation?"

Miss Roachers faltered.

"I can now say that should you hurt Lissy after this, she has her own little safe haven with her wand. If you try anything, she'll deal with you in her own way."

She sputtered and walked away from me in a tantrum.

I chuckled.

Lissy's mouth was open, "I don't think anyone has ever spoken to her like that before. Especially not someone your age."

"I see I'm a first for everything," I remarked humorously. "By the way, don't tell her this, but magic isn't allowed outside of school until you become of age at seventeen. This makes me a hypocrite as well, considering I pretty much scolded her with empty threats when I gave empty threats right after."

"Except _you_ did it for a good reason," she said. "She's a really horrible woman."

"Do you know of the four Houses at Hogwarts?" I asked, wanting to change the subject.

She shook her head, "I don't know anything about the magical world, sadly enough. I did hear from Dumbledore, though, that your Houses are like family and you earn and lose House points together."

I nodded, "And there are four of them which you will be sorted in at the start-of-term feast. There's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Gryffindors are those who are brave at heart, Ravenclaws are the smart ones, Hufflepuffs are the most loyal, and Slytherins are the most cunning. Each are mostly different, and sometimes people are sorted where others or themselves think they shouldn't be – I can think of one person." _Professor Lockhart_ I thought. He had been sorted into Ravenclaw with my mom and couldn't even get into their own common room because they had to answer a riddle.

"Are you in Gryffindor?" she asked.

I shook my head, renouncing the idea that I was brave. "I'm in Slytherin. Think about it, that woman doesn't know we're not allowed to use magic outside of school and here I was threatening her with magic. That's not bravery, that's cheating."

"I still think that was brave," she said.

I smiled, "You're a stubborn one, huh?"

"At least if I feel safe with you."

I cleared my throat, "Allow me to tell you that Gryffindors and Slytherins _loathe_ each other. They're the biggest enemies of the school. My friend, Becky, and I don't exactly follow along with the norm, though. We have friends in Gryffindor who we meet with in secret in the library."

Lissy looked excited.

Madam Malkin came back. "I'm nearly done here, Melody. Just one last touch and... there you are. All ready to go."

Lissy stepped off of the stool, she was only slightly shorter than me.

"Whoa, you're tall," I said, amazed.

She laughed, "So I've been told... um, so see you on the train!"

"See you then," I said, with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

I got fitted into dress robes by Madam Malkin, and I had to admit the color was pretty but they didn't have a mirror in the shop for me to look at myself. Mom did look at me in awe, though, as Madam Malkin continued and put the lace where my mom asked. She gave me short puffed sleeves that my mom said actually looked pretty good.

Madam Malkin said, "I just got a box of fake flowers, I could get all the dark blue roses and make them a part of the dress."

"That sounds like a great idea," I said, wondering how many more decorations we would add.

She finished quickly enough. We then thanked her, paid for the dress robes and left.

"I'll see you later, darling," mom said, kissing my forehead. I gave her my dressrobes and she Disapparated.

I made my way back to the shop and saw Lissy and Miss Roachers enter it.

_This should be fun_, I thought mischievously, deciding to enter through the back door and come in as though I hadn't seen them.

I entered through the back door and heard grandpa talking to them.

"_Please_, kind sir! Give her a wand that won't hurt anyone she points it at! Perhaps a fakey wand?" Miss Roachers asked. As they came into my view, Lissy was standing right next to her and Miss Roachers was talking about her as if she weren't there.

"No wand does that... and I don't choose the wand for her. It's the wand –"

"– that chooses the wizard," I finished for him, coming in. I then looked up at Miss Roachers, gave a look of surprise and said, "Oh, it's you. Nice to see you again."

"You know them?" grandpa asked.

"Just met them at Madam Malkin's. I hadn't realized they hadn't come to your wand shop yet, grandpa."

"_Grandpa_?!" Miss Roachers asked, her eyes bulging.

"Well yes, in case you didn't notice this is the Ollivander's Wand Shop. You do remember my mom told you her name is Orele Ollivander, right?" I asked innocently. I winked at Lissy who looked as though she was trying hard not to laugh. "Here, grandpa, you humor Miss Roachers – because I warn you, she's very impatient – and I'll help Lissy find her wand."

Lissy walked over behind the desk while Miss Roachers stammered angrily, unable to think of anything to say in her hot fury.

I took out a tape measure to measure Lissy.

"That was _brilliant_!" Lissy said.

"I thought so," I said with a smile, leaving her to find a wand.

Lissy's mouth dropped open as the tape measure continued measuring her without my assistance. I took out a wand and handed it to her when the tape measure stopped. She took it and looked at me uncertainly.

"Give it a wave," I said.

She waved it once. "Nope!" I said instantly, snatching it away. We went through a bunch of different wands while Lissy was continuously jumping whenever I snatched a wand away, saying it wasn't the one.

"It looks like you're not going to find a wand..." Lissy said softly, sounding disappointed.

"Oh _no_," I said, looking around for another wand she could use. "I love a challenge. I can tell you this, on no one's first try have they ever gotten the wand meant for them. Besides – there are many wands in here, we just... _aha_!" I took out a wand and handed it to her. "Let's see about this one..."

Lissy took it, and I felt the power emanating from it. I smiled triumphantly and Lissy looked at her wand in fascination.

"Amazing..." she muttered softly.

"Chestnut wand with unicorn hair in its core," I stated, taking her wand from her to wrap it up in a box "Thirteen and three quarter inches, and quite bendy. That's ten Galleons." _So much for something **so** needed._

She handed me ten Galleons. "How do you _know_ what sort of wand it is?" she asked as I gave her the wand.

"Everything I've ever learned, I learned from my grandpa. The wood is easy to know just from looking at it, in feeling it I know the strength of it, and when I listen to the inside of the wood I can tell what is in its core." I looked to her with a smile. "The kind of wood it is says a lot about a person."

"What does mine say?" she asked.

"Here is what my grandpa wrote in his notes word for word about Chestnut wands," I said, having memorized all his notes for my benefit of knowing a person just by looking at the kind of wand they own. "'_This is a most curious, mult-faceted wood, which varies greatly in its character depending on the wand core, and takes a great deal of colour from the personality that possesses it. The wand of chestnut is attracted to witches and wizards who are skilled tamers of magical beasts, those who possess great gifts in Herbology, and those who are natural fliers. However, when paired with dragon heartstring, it may find its best match among those who are overfond of luxury and material things, and less scrupulous than they should be about how they are obtained. Conversely, three successive heads of the Wizengamot have possessed chestnut and unicorn wands, for this combination shows a predilection for those concerned with all manner of justice'._"

Lissy's eyes widened. "'_A predilection for those concerned with all manner of justice_'..." she repeated. "So I'm going to be a wizard _lawyer_?"

I snorted, "Only if you want to be. You can be what you want, it says that but it doesn't say 'you're most definitely going to be one, and if not something is seriously wrong with you'."

Lissy laughed.

"When's you're birthday?" I asked. "Just wondering."

"August thirty first," she stated.

I smiled, "My birthday is a month before that, July thirty first... which orphanage do you live in?"

"Wool's Orphanage... but they're going to kick us out want offices and if not all of the kids get adopted then.. well, I don't know where they would send us then."

I frowned.

We went back to where Miss Roachers and grandpa were. Miss Roachers was still fuming, but she seemed to be angry at grandpa for something now.

"I have my wand, we can go back to the orphanage now," Lissy informed her.

Miss Roachers's right eye twitched as she stared at me. "Stay away from Lissy, you –"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you..." I said to her. I turned to Lissy, "Enjoy the rest of your summer vacation."

Lissy beamed at me, then she and Miss Roachers left the shop.

"Bitter woman," grandpa grumbled to himself.

"_Impatient_ woman," I added. "She's _horrible_."

He looked at me, "She said you were a horrid child and that we should take away your wand and give you over to her. Said we weren't raising you properly and that you should get a beating _every single day_."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, she seemed to look at me like she wanted to do just that and so I informed her that should we get into a fight, _I_ would win."

"That poor girl..." he said.

I got lost in my thoughts. That was such a horrible place to be... and I know dad had lived into an orphanage and _hated_ to go back there during the summers after Hogwarts. Was it because he lived in an orphanage that he became so heartless and evil? No one would adopt him, so he never felt loved? _Oh how awful!_

"Can we adopt her?" I blurted out.

Grandpa looked at me as though I were some strange being he had never seen before. "Melody, we need Muggle money to adopt Lissy and we don't have any of that."

"Mom might – or I could ask a favor from my stepdad in America... oh _please_!" I begged.

He sighed, "Talk to your mother about it... I wouldn't mind having her live with us but let me tell you that if we do adopt her she is _your_ responsibility considering you wanted her."

"Can I go tell her now before I go to Draco's? The street's pretty much empty now..."

"Go ahead, you're on leave!" he said, waving me away.

"Love ya! See you after the World Cup!" I called, running out into the cobbled street to the fireplaces to use the Floo Network. It's where you have some powder and go into a lit fireplace, say clearly where you want to go, and drop down the powder in your hand – which I kept with me in a pouch in case I needed to go home early from working at the shop.

I stepped in and took a handful of floo powder out of my pouch. "Ollivander Home," I said clearly, throwing the floo powder down at my feet.

It was as if going through a tunnel, I tucked my elbows in and landed easily on my feet at the house. I had done it so many times that it was easy to land and not fall down as I used to. Gerald was in the living room when I came in.

"Lover boy sent you a letter," he said matter-of-factly, waving the letter in the air. 'Lover boy' was his nickname for Marcus after seeing him kiss me at the train station last year. Mom was surprisingly relaxed about me dating Marcus, not being overly protective or saying I should watch out when around him. It was nice compared to grandma and grandpa's 'be careful's and Gerald's nonstop taunting. _As if **he** never had a girlfriend... which I'm quite positive with his charms he probably had a fair few._

I walked over to him and he stood up to keep it out of my reach.

"Gerald..." I said warningly, jumping up to try and grab it.

He laughed, "How about I read it aloud to see what he's got to say to you. Shall it be, 'Oh my love, I miss you so much, I –"

"Oh, shut _up_!" I said, jumping again. "_And he doesn't talk like that_!"

"Ah, ah, ah, you know you won't reach it, Melody!" he said, his grin getting wider.

"When I turn seventeen, you'd better watch out if you try this! I'd hex you –"

"I wouldn't _dare_ trying this when you're seventeen, no worries," he said. "I know you'd likely blow me to smithereens – _with_ Orele at your side."

"Speaking of mom, I need to talk to her about something. Now _give me that letter_!"

"What do you need to ask her about?"

"Adopting!"

He turned away from me, having burst into a fit of laughter. I continued after him, he quickly took out his wand – _still laughing_ – and levitated my letter into the air. _Ooh he can be **so** childish!_

When he composed himself, he asked, "What, is Blake not enough for you? Do you want about a hundred more children running around the house or something? You know I won't pay any attention to you."

I gave a groan of frustration.

"What's this about adopting?" mom asked, walking into the room.

"Get my letter from Gerald first!" I said, pointing the ceiling where it still floated.

Mom raised and eyebrow at him.

"Go on, hear what Melody has to say about adopting first," he said, humored.

She looked at me then. _Okay, she's taking **his** side now? That's a first._

"Remember that woman that came up to us in Madam Malkin's and had that girl with her?" I asked. When she nodded, I continued, telling her about Lissy and the orphanage. That Miss Roacher was evil, too, though mom looked as though she seriously doubted that – in which I told her to ask grandpa about what Miss Roacher said to him about me.

Mom looked to be pondering it, when she started to look like she would shake her head I felt ready to beg.

"_Please_, mom! Grandpa said to ask you and if we do adopt Lissy she'd be my responsibility –"

"Okay, calm down..." mom said softly. "I'll think about it... I don't have any Muggle money with me, so –"

"Jim could let us borrow some –" Jim is my American stepdad, "– he could send us some money that we can transfer with British money and just go get her."

"Oh, yes, I'd like to see how that conversation goes," mom said sarcastically. "'Jim, could you let us borrow some money? Yes, I know we haven't talked in a while but Melody here wants to adopt a child from a Muggle orphanage and we haven't got any money.'" She then raised up her arms and dropped them down to her sides dramatically.

"Um..." I said, trying to figure something else out.

"I see you've forgotten about your boyfriend's letter now," Gerald pointed out smugly.

"Believe me, it's at the back of my mind –" I turned around suddenly and snatched it out of his hands. He had levitated it down while I was talking to mom and held it behind my head tauntingly, wanting to mention it and have me turn around for it to go straight back to the ceiling. I held it tightly in my hands, keeping it close. "Thank you."

"How did you –"

"I grew eyes at the back of my head," I said. _Nope – now that's the one time the Inner Eye didn't annoy me. How useful..._

Mom was laughing _so_ hard that tears streamed down her cheek. "She got you Gerald –"

Blake started crying upstairs, stopping mom's short lived moment of fun for the moment as she ran upstairs to check on him.

"I'm actually starting to feel bad for Orele..." Gerald said, "_children._"

I rolled my eyes, "And _you_ were a child once, oh imagine how _you_ must've been like." I went upstairs to my room before he could start anything with me. The only thing I was glad about was though he taunted me with magic

A bag was off to the side in my room, I had hastily packed some clothes a few days before. A pair of clothes were for tomorrow since I was to sleepover at Draco's that night so we could wake up early and get moving without delay. The rest was about a week's worth of clothing, since I wasn't sure how long the World Cup would last.

I sat on my bed and opened up Marcus's letter. _**So** much better than Gerald's idea of what it would say_, I thought with a smile. It read:

Dear Melody,

France is still amazing and as I said before I should really take you to visit sometime. The best place – the city of love. I know, irony.

I suppose when you get this letter that you'll be going to the Quidditch World Cup with Draco soon. Has he found anyone else to tag along with? I wish I could come, Bulgaria against Ireland ought to be quite a match. Matches like the Quidditch World Cup could go on for days, I'm not kidding. I know you'll enjoy it though you aren't exactly an avid Quidditch fan, because Draco will make the best oohs and ahhs during the game, he'll be your entertainer.

I hope you're well. I'll be coming home from France in a few weeks and will have to get my schoolbooks as soon as possible before the day we leave for school on the train. I'm still finding it odd that there are dressrobes on the list of supplies we need. Whatever it is we're doing, would you go with me just to spare asking later?

See you then.

Sincerely,

Marcus

His letters easily made me laugh. I took a blank piece of parchment from the pile of parchments on my bedside table, a quill and ink bottle and wrote back:

Dear Marcus,

I miss your humor here, all I get are Gerald's taunts everytime I get a letter from you. He'd better grow up before I turn seventeen. France sounds amazing, I do wish I could come, but you know – duty at the wand shop calls. It's probably a once in a lifetime thing for me to leave for a few days just to go to the Quidditch World Cup.

The only person Draco got to go with him and his parents was me. I'm not complaining though, it sounds like it will be a great experience. Days? Well, this ought to be one I won't forget, especially if Draco is emanating noises every so often. I'll be sure to watch the actual game, just to see the difference between professional playing and school playing.

Speaking of Bulgaria, I just met a girl who is about to start her first year at Hogwarts. She's an orphan, been living in a Muggle orphanage – her parents were wizards and died sometime after she was born. She says her mom went to Hogwarts and her dad had gone to Durmstrang – he'd been Bulgarian! It was an interesting bit of news, though I must tell you the person who takes care of her and other orphans is horrible. I asked my mom if we could adopt her just so I could save her from that woman.

I am well, and it's pretty obvious you are too with all you've said about how wonderful France is. I suppose this will be my last letter to you before school begins again. I feel the same about the dressrobes – something big must be happening. And, of course, yes to the invitation, 'I thought you'd never ask!' would be the sentence.

Sincerely,

Melody

I folded my letter up and placed in an envelope, sealing it and going out of my room to Blake's – picking up my bag along the way and hoisting in onto my shoulder. Mom hugged him to her, singing a soft lullaby.

"Do you know if Ebony is home?" I asked, referring to the barn owl mom had recently bought so she didn't have to continuously borrow someone else's owl when she wanted to send a letter.

"I believe she's in my room," she said. "Are you leaving soon?"

"Yes, everything is in order so I decided to just go on my way to Draco's," I said.

She came over to hug me with one arm, carefully holding Blake in the other. "Have fun, and be safe," she said, kissing my cheek lovingly.

When she pulled away, I nodded, "Don't want trouble." I turned to Blake and kissed his forehead, "I'll be back my little ray of sunshine." Grandma walked in and I went over to hug her as well, "I'll be off, I love you."

"What about Gerald?" grandma asked as I left the room.

I waved my hand back, "Who cares about him? _See ya_!" I then went into mom's room where Ebony was indeed there, cleaning her feathers. "Hey Eb," I said, "I need you to take another letter to Marcus."

Ebony looked up and hooted angrily. She had a nasty temper.

"Oh come on, girl. _One _last letter for the summer."

Her feathers ruffled angrily, and then she bitterly stuck her leg out.

"Thank you, girl. You're a _life_ saver," I said, tying it to her leg.

She hooted indifferently.

When I finished I opened up the window next to her perch and Ebony took off, slapping me in the face with her wings. "I believe she _meant_ to do that," I muttered to myself, closing the window and brushing a few feathers off my shirt.

I went downstairs into the fireplace, taking a handful of floo powder from the bag beside it and stepped inside. I shouted, "Malfoy manor!" and off I went.

I landed inside the fireplace, brushing myself off and looking around. Lucius Malfoy's office.

Lucius and Narcissa – both Draco's parents – and Draco came in. Draco greatly resembled Lucius; pale skin with a pointed face and white-blond hair. Narcissa had blonde hair too – _wow, the blond family, I've never seen Narcissa before now_.

"Hey," I said, brushing the ash off of my clothes.

Draco surprised me with a hug, which I gladly returned. _Hugs from random others surprise even me, how hilarious_. "Hi, shall I show you up to your room? We can do something afterwards before dinner."

"Sounds like a great idea," I said with a smile. I turned to Narcissa and held out my hand, "Hi, it's nice to finally meet you."

Narcissa looked to be shocked at my behavior, but reached her hand out and shook mine. "I've heard a lot about you," she said, managing a small smile. "Draco was very excited to tell us that you were coming along for the World Cup."

Lucius looked nervous... did he tell her who my father is? Perhaps an accidental slip?

I nodded and followed Draco out of the room. We went upstairs and he made his way around until he finally came up to a room and opened it. "I'm _never_ going to find my way around the second floor of your manor... you know that, right?" I asked.

He laughed, "Come on, it's easier to navigate than Hogwarts!"

"I was able to stay at Hogwarts for a week, I don't normally sleepover here," I said, throwing my bag down on my bed.

With a snicker, he said, "My room's right next to yours, so I can wake you up in the morning."

"Or the middle of the night just to freak me out..." I muttered, he laughed just about as hard as my mom had.

We needed to get up bright and early to go to the World Cup so we could get a Portkey there and get set up. Portkeys are random objects that would need to be something no Muggle would accidentally pick up, you have to grab hold of it and not let go until you've reached your destination. We weren't allowed to Apparate to it in case there _were_ Muggles nearby, and you had to make sure you got there before the Portkey left without you.

"Did you get dressrobes yet?" I asked, laying down across the bed. _Comfy!_

"Yeah, what do we need them for?" he asked, sitting down on the bed.

"No idea, must be important though," I said. "In fact – odd thing. I went just today and I let this incoming first year go before me. She was dressed in Muggle _rags_ while the woman with her wore some _fancy dress_. And before you say anything –" I said, as Draco opened his mouth. He was one of the Pureblood students who hated Muggles and had a foul name to call them – Mudbloods. "– She told me her parents were wizards, her mother went to Hogwarts and her father went to Durmstrang, and he was _Bulgarian_. She is an orphan in a Muggle orphanage and the woman that is with her was _horrible!_"

His eyebrows raised, "Oh?"

"I threatened her a bit, it was quite fun... but I keep thinking that I want to adopt that poor girl. My mom says it might not be possible because we don't have Muggle money."

He snorted, "Are you telling me this because you want _me_ to do something about it?"

I scoffed, "_No_, I just... wanted to vent that out again, it didn't help the first time with mom and Gerald, _nor_ the second time in my letter to Marcus."

"All you need now is to tell Becky and you'll feel _so _much better because she'll probably help."

I glared at him. "Shut up," I said, accompanied by his snorts and snickers.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wha –?" I moaned while being shaken awake rather dramatically. Draco was there at my side, trying to wake me up.

"Time to get up!" he shouted. "Get dressed, we'll have breakfast and go!"

That felt like only a _second_ of sleep. "_Fine,_ now geroff me!"

"I'm not getting off until you've woken up... here –" and with that he pulled me out of bed, out of the comforting warmth of it, "– haha, payback!"

I pulled my messed up hair out of my face to look up at him, he was still in his pajamas as well surprisingly. "If I remember correctly, last time Becky and I woke you up to get out of bed it was Christmas our second year and we _didn't_ _pull you_ out of bed."

"No, but an equivalent to it – hit me, Crabbe, and Goyle with pillows till we got up." Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were friends as well, but they were quiet and mostly just follow us around.

"Pillow are softer than the hard floor," I countered.

He smiled, and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me up.

"Now get out, I gotta get dressed."

"How about I sit on the bed – _not looking, I swear_ – and just make sure you don't try going back to sleep?" he suggested.

_No way Jose,_ "How about you get out this room before I hex you and throw you out myself?"

He smirked, "Good enough for me," and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I locked it quickly and set down to get dressed. _I sure hope they know how to dress like Muggles_, I thought, picking up a gray tank top and jean shorts and getting dressed into them. I still had Muggle clothes from when I lived in America, and every summer mom charmed them so they could continue to fit me. They were old clothes, but I liked them, they gave nice memories.

Walking out of my room, Draco did at the same time and his parents were just coming up the stairs.

"Oh my God," I mumbled, dropping my face into my hands.

"What?" Draco asked.

"We're going to be around Muggles, you can't expect them not to _stare_ at you in your robes!" I said. They all wore black robes with splashes of green on them and I was just about the only one who knew what Muggles expected.

"As if we care," Draco sneered. "I wouldn't be caught _dead_ wearing –"

"You wanna bet?" I asked. "Ugh, fine, we'll go with you all wearing your robes. But I tell you, if any Muggles sneer at _you_ because you're wearing what they would call '_odd _things' that you know you can't do anything to them... in fact, maybe I should just do all the talking."

"I like that idea," Lucius said silkily, walking up to me holding Muggle money. "Here, you get to talk to them about where our site is – and if you want you can keep all the extra money, we won't use it again."

My eyes widened, he winked at me. _Draco told you?_ I mouthed. He nodded. I gave a bright smile and looked to Draco with joy, he just shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.

We ate our breakfast and walked away from their house a few miles. I walked ahead of Lucius and Narcissa with Draco – he knew where to go and besides it was nice to just be able to talk to him. His mother didn't seem too comfortable near me.

"Thank you," I mumbled as we had started walking. It was five in the morning, and would take us about an hour to get there. Our Portkey was to leave at ten minutes past six. The sun would just be coming up, but no Muggle would ever be awake at that time during the summer.

"Don't mention it," he said with a smile. Then he looked serious, "No, really, _don't_ mention it, it doesn't need to be known that I've gone soft."

I laughed, "Hide the best of you, Draco? You only show it for me anyways –"

He shook his head, "Nope."

I smiled reassuringly, "Okay, then."

"So this girl," he said, "what's her name?"

"Lissy Parker. I think you'd like her."

"What does she look like?"

"Wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, a cute small nose... oh, and she's only slightly shorter than me. She's quite tall for her age."

"I think I could look for that. Do you know what House she might be in?"

"I can't really give a guess – but she seemed to think that I'm a Gryffindor because of the way I threatened her overseer. By the way, I think you'd have a laugh at her name."

He looked curious.

"Miss _Roachers_," I said. He snorted with laughter. "She started it first. Threatened that I need to be _punished_ and that she would take matters into her own hands if she could since my family apparently won't. I told her she was giving threats and threatened her myself. No one heard so I believe I'm quite safe."

"I wish I could've _seen_ that! She must _not_ have been happy!"

I laughed, "Nope! I even made a point to bump into them at the wand shop and get Lissy a wand myself. Before they left, her _eye_ was twitching!"

It was laughter all the way there.

Once we reached an empty clearing, with some few houses a near mile away, I looked around for what the Portkey was. Then I suddenly knew, "We're looking for a umbrella with holes in it – ah!" A short way off there was a green umbrella – closed – and I could just see a gaping hole in it. "What time will it go there?"

"In about two minutes," Draco said, after consulting his watch, and looked up at me. "How did you know it would be an umbrella?"

I faltered. "I'll tell you later," I murmered in his ear as his parents caught up with us.

We each held the Portkey with one hand, it just fit the four hands perfectly. Lucius was looking at his watch and finally counted down, "Three... two... one..."

I suddenly felt a jerk and that my feet had left the ground. Draco and I bumped into each other often, and my hand was magically stuck to the boot so I wondered how it was even possible to let go –

My feet slammed to the ground, Draco and I fell over. Lucius and Narcissa stood above us, looking quite windswept but they at least didn't lose balance and fall over. They fixed themselves up as Draco and I stood.

I wasn't listening as Lucius and Narcissa went to talk to someone. Draco and I just brush grass off, and I fixed my hair.

"Looks like I didn't have to brush my hair this morning anyways, it's gotten messed up from the Portkey," I grumbled.


	6. Chapter 6

We stood on a seemingly deserted stretch of misty moor, standing there talking to Lucius were two grumpy-looking wizards dressed up as Muggles – sort of. One wore a tweed suit with thigh-high galoshes, the other a kilt and a poncho. I didn't realize how apparently hard it was to dress as a Muggle for a wizard.

We walked up to them, no longer tired after being thrown to the ground.

The one with the galoshes consulted his list, "Malfoy... About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, second field you come to. Your Site Manager is Mr. Bumblebee."

"Aww... _bumble_bee," I said. Draco snorted. _Imagine how Gerald would have taunted me..._

We walked awat through the mist that was just starting to clear as the sun came up over the horizon. About twenty minutes later we could see hundreds of tents that rose up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood just on the horizon. A little more walking and we came up to a cottage door where a man with tousled gray hair stood. He wore wizarding robes so this was no Muggle, which made the Malfoys relax a touch, but we needed to pay him Muggle money so he could pay the person who owned all the land they were on.

I took out the Muggle money and asked, "How much was this?"

"Just a thirty – some wizards have been trying to give me Galleons and I have to remind them that this is Muggle land," Mr. Bumblebee said. "Lucky they had me to tell them, but to those who have Muggles as their Site Managers I hope they know what was expected. Some have brought tents that look more like miniature _palaces_."

"We brought one that's a little fancier than the regular ones," Lucius said as I gave Mr. Bumblebee the money and counted what I had leftover, wondering if it was enough for adoption. "But it won't be too showy, I assure you."

Mr. Bumblebee bowed his head to us, gave us a map of the campsite, and went to go help another wizard who just came along.

Lucius led us through the long line of tents – more of which were regal-looking rather than normal. We finally reached a space with a small sign hammered into the ground that read MALFOY. A very short distance away was the field where the match was to take place.

"Is this space big enough for your tent?" I asked, looking at the tents next to us. To our left was a long line of Bulgarian tents and to our right were a surprising number of tents that looked like my definition of a Hobbit hole.

The Bulgarian flag – white, green, and red – sat high above them, fluttering the light breeze. They were bedecked with plant life and every one of them had the exact same moving poster – as all pictures in the wizarding world moved – of a guy with a surly face with heavy black eyebrows just blinking and scowling.

The little Hobbit holes indeed had roundish looking wooden doors that opened in and out, but the rest of it looked like the fabric of a regular tent. Only they had little mail boxes and gardens out front as though it was their own homely abode.

"We have enough room," Lucius said, looking around him cautiously before taking out his wand. With a wave, the tent set itself up. In my mind I shook my head regrettably, there was no magic allowed on these Muggle grounds The tent itself was just as fancy as much of the others, it had the Bulgarian colors on it and looked like a mini-mansion. _Yeah right, only a little fancier my butt_.

Inside it was surprisingly bigger than it looked on the outside. It was two floors, about five rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a dining room. It was actually quite nice.

"You want to go out for a bit?" Draco asked once we got settled in.

"Sure," I said, following him out of the tent. "Who's that on the Bulgarian posters?"

"Oh, that's Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker! He's the best Seeker in the _world_!"

"Wow..." I said softly. I wasn't really interested anyways.

We went outside the area of the tents and Draco took out his wand. "Did you know that though we aren't allowed to use magic, underage wizards have no restrictions while we're here at the World Cup. Father told me in case I wanted the time to do magic."

I smiled, "Have you read your books yet to see what spells we'll be doing this year?"

He shook his head firmly, "You know I always wait until the school year starts to ever read those things." He waved his arm around as he talked, whenever it started to point at me I ducked though he didn't seem to notice.

"Um, Draco –"

Too late. Sparks burst out of his wand and hit a nearby tree. It toppled over, whatever spell had been cast at it had hit it in such a way that it looked like a clean hit from an axe. The tree started to fall in our direction.

I whipped out my wand, "_Arresto_ _Momentum!_" The trees descent slowed, and I pushed Draco out of the way, walking with him and we were away from it when it landed.

About a dozen Ministry members Apparated around us, looking at the tree.

"_Who_ knocked it over?" a stiff, obviously strong rule-stickler barked, coming over to us. He was an elderly man, uptight and with short gray hair that was almost unnaturally straight. He followed the rules of Muggle dressing so thoroughly that even I could have mistaken him for a Muggle.

"That's Barty Crouch..." Draco whispered in my ear before saying, "I'm sorry, it was me, I did it by accident."

"That's big of you," I said in surprise by him admitting he did it. _Barty Crouch!_ was being shouted at the back of my mind. _Wonder what he has his son doing while he's out working... maybe just keeping him at home under a continued Imperius Curse?_

Mr. Crouch looked over the tree and then back to us. "Did you use the charm to slow its descent too?"

"I did that," I said. He looked rather amazed, but hid it rather well for anyone else.

Another man came along, a rather childish look in his eyes. He wore the most 'out there' clothes you could imagine, an enormous picture of a wasp on bright yellow and black Quidditch robes. He was seemingly a Ministry member but the Quidditch robes suggested he played on a Quidditch team when he was younger. His nose was squashed – possibly from a stray Bludger – he had blond hair, a rosy complexion, and round blue eyes.

"What's going on here, Barty?" he asked, sounding rather overenthusiastic about something.

"An accident," he said curtly. "We'll have to get this tree away somehow."

"Why not use _Reparo_?" Draco asked me in a whisper.

I whispered back, "A tree is life Draco, it's not like you can cut a person's head off, use the Repairing Charm and they're just all right." Draco couldn't help his laughing.

Lucius Malfoy came then, and Draco's laughter died down instantly.

"Ah, Lucius," Mr. Crouch said. "I believe this is your son – he _accidentally _knocked down the tree, and this girl with him slowed it's descent."

Lucius looked it over and said, "_Impeccable_ job, Melody." He turned back to Mr. Crouch, "Did any Muggles see this?"

"It's looks like there's no –" Ludo began to say when someone from behind us shouted.

"We saw!"

Mr. Crouch went around Draco and I.

"I need to talk to you, Draco," Lucius said, coming up to us. "Melody, you can go watch them talk to that _Mudblood_ over there while we leave for a bit."

They left and I rolled my eyes. _Becky would just **love** to hear about this._

I turned to see the men and froze.

"You're all wizards, aren't you?" the Muggle man said. His brown hair was balding and his stomach poked out a bit much like Ludo's. He had a little boy with him who had curly brown hair. From a distance it was a shock to me to see them.

"You seem to know a lot about us," Mr. Crouch said. "What are you doing here? You don't look like a familiar Muggles I've seen."

"I've just come from America to look for my ex wife and stepdaughter – I heard people say wizards and Muggles as I walked and thought I'd come over to see what this was all about. I have continuously heard the word Quidditch."

Mr. Crouch raised his wand, likely to do the Memory Charm. The Muggle man closed his eyes to await the blow and the little boy just looked around him in utter fascination, completely oblivous as to what would happen.

"Wait!" I said, running over.

Mr. Crouch turned quickly, looking ready to scold me.

I stopped next to Mr. Crouch and looked at the man, "_Jim_?"

He opened his eyes to look at me and his mouth dropped open. "M-_Melody_? Is that really you?" It seemed as though he were about to burst into tears, his brown eyes looking too adorable to resist a hug from him. He ran forward to hug me. "How long has it _been_?"

I gave a small chuckle, "Well, you know I left just before I turned eleven. I'm fourteen now."

"You _know_ this man?" Ludo asked, looking quite interested.

I nodded, still in Jim's arms. _So long _since I last saw him! "My American stepdad... it's been a while. Can you go notify my mom, Orele Ollivander, so she can come get them and get them settled into our home?"

They all left and Jim let go of me. "_Fourteen_? You're al_ready_ such a beautiful young woman."

I smiled up at him. Then I looked to the little boy. "Hey," I said softly, kneeling down next to him. "I'm your older sister, Melody... what's your name?"

He looked shyly away from me, his fascination gone now that someone was trying to talk to him.

Jim chuckled, "I named him Nick. He's a shy one, even more than _you_ ever were."

I stood and heard a pop from behind me, "I'm even less of one now..."

"She's also one of the best students in her school," I heard mom say. I turned my head a slight bit to see the both of them hugging each other tightly.

"Aww, it's a family reunion," I said with a babylike voice. Both laughed, even Nick couldn't help it.

"Nick," Jim said, letting go of mom to kneel down next to him. "Your mother and your sister."

Nick's eyes widened up at mom with strong happiness. "Momma?" he finally asked.

Mom Disapparated to the Ollivander Home with Jim and Nick, and I went back to the tent for the rest of the day. Draco sulked for most of it and once dusk came magic was in the air, he was happier, and the Ministry stopped trying to keep anyone from casting spells in happiness. The fight would have been absolutely futile.

Salesmen had Apparated to empty spots every few feet so when Draco and I got out of the tent we saw small shops that we went to for stuff to buy.

We looked at what they had to sell with excitement. They had tiny models of Firebolts that actually flew, models of the players that actually walked around, and bunches of other things. Draco got a model of Viktor Krum; I got two Firebolts – one for Marcus, another for Lissy – and a Bulgarian scarf for Becky with a lion on it that really roared.

"It's about to start!" Draco said excitedly, grabbing my arm. "Let's go!"


	7. Chapter 7

We followed the lantern-lit trail through the woods to the field, Lucius and Narcissa in the lead. Draco still held my arm, so tight in fact I could tell his excitement made him totally forget about the accident with the tree. Thousands of other people around us gave the sounds of shouts and laughter, and also snatches of singing. The excitement around us was so contagious I couldn't even help myself from talking with Draco about what we hoped would happen during the match – though I don't even know the teams. It took twenty minutes to get through the wood and we finally emerged on the other side in the shadow of the hugest stadium I had ever been it.

"_A_mazing," I said with Draco's enthusiastic nod following.

"The Ministry has beeen working on this all year with a task force of five hundred," Lucius said, leading the way to the nearest entrance. "The Muggle Repelling Charms are on every square inch. Everytime a Mudblood comes near here, they've suddenly remember urgent appointments and left to go get it done."

_I really wish he would stop saying that horrid word,_ I thought to myself with a shake of my head. _But, the Dark Lord's daughter wouldn't be telling him not to use it... I may have to say it soon – oh ugh!_

We went all the way to the top box and edged along the second row where there were only four empty seats left.

"... ah, and here's Lucius!" I heard someone say. I looked to see Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. He seemed to have been deep in conversation with Harry Potter – a boy with glasses, messy black hair and a lightning scar on his forehead courtesy of Lord Voldemort. He had turned around at the sound of Lucius's name, so had the whole Weasley family – all red heads – and Hermione Granger, a girl with bushy brown hair. They weren't surprised to see me with the Malfoys, though Hermione gave me a small smile, Harry and Ron small nods – those two were warming up to me... fairly slowly.

"Ah, Fudge," Lucius said, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco? Perhaps his friend, Melody?"

"How do you do, how do you do? Nice to see you again, Melody," Fudge said, smiling and bowing to Lucius. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk – Obalonsk – Mr. – well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magicc, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else – you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

Arthur Weasley was the father of the Weasley family, and it was a tense moment between him and Lucius. Last time I had ever seen them face-to-face, we were in Flourish and Blotts about to start our second year at Hogwarts and they got into a fight with each other.

"Good lord, Arthur," Lucius said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

The Minister, who surprisingly hadn't been listening, said, "Lucius has just given a _very_ generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How – how nice," Arthur said, straining a smile for the Minister's sake.

_Boy, how can the Minister not feel all the tense **hate** between the two? I'm simply **burning** in it!_ I thought, giving an apologetic glance to Arthur and everyone with him. Arthur noticed and looked slightly shocked at it. Fred and George – the twins – whispered something to him and grinned at me almost uncontrollably. Those two were the biggest jokesters of the family.

We continued down the line to our seats. I sat on the end and Draco sat next to his father.

In the next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box. "Everyone ready?" he asked excitedly. "Minister – ready to go?"

"Ready where you are, Ludo," the Minister said comfortably.

Ludo whipped his wand out, directed it at his own throat, and said "_Sonorus!_" to speak over the roar of the crowd like a microphone.

"There's a good spell," Draco muttered to me.

I nodded, "I certainly won't be using it anytime soon."

Draco chuckled.

"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome!" Ludo said over the crowd's excited screaming and clapping. "Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup! And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

A hundred women glided out onto the field... quite beautiful they were. I looked at Draco and Lucius, they were instantly captivated by them. Narcissa and I traded glances and burst into laughter. These women _had_ to be veela. They dazed the thoughts of men and made them want to do impressive things to get their attention.

"Good thing they have us with them to make sure they don't do something stupid," I muttered softly. She nodded with a big smile. No wonder Draco was on Bulgaria's side – unless he didn't know the mascots were veela.

Music played and the veela started dancing. I watched Draco closely and he looked blissfully happy. _Well, wait until they stop and then he'll be devastated_.

When the veela started dancing faster, I could hear the minds of every single man in the stadium of _what can I do to make them notice me? Jumping from the box into the stadium sounds like a good idea... but is it enough?_ "Wow..." I mumbled, "How stupid." Draco started to stand, so I grabbed the back of his robes and sat him right back down. The music stopped and Draco broke out of his trance.

Angry shouts filled the stadium as the veela stopped and went to line up along one side of the field, and they were especially loud coming from Draco. Another thing for Becky to be overly pleased about.

"And now," Ludo roared, "kindly put your wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Next, what looked to be a green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It circled around the entire stadium, then split into two comets, each heading toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced across the field, connecting the two comets together. The whole crowd oooohed and aaaaahed at the display. The rainbow faded and the two comets flew to merge together, forming a great shimmering shamrock which soared over the stands and gold coins fell down everywhere like golden rain.

Draco bent down and picked up a bunch of the gold. _Now why would they just give us free gold?_ I wondered to myself. Then my question was confirmed. In the shamrock were thousands of leprechauns, tiny little beared men with red vests that each carried a minute lamp of gold or green.

"Draco it's leprechaun gold, it disappears," I whispered to him as the crowd gave tumultuous applause, and he dropped it all to the floor again.

"Thanks... at least the veela give you better entertainment."

I snorted.

The shamrock dissolved and the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela. They settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

Ludo spoke again. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome – the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you – Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure zoomed so fast across the field on its broomstick I almost didn't see it, and all the Bulgarian supporters applauded wildly. I even applauded.

"Ivanova!"

A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand – _Krum_!"

Draco gripped my arm in excitement. "Look! Look! It's him! It's him!"

I couldn't help my smile. I had _never_ seen Draco look so excited.

"And now, please greet – the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting – Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand – _Lynch_!"

Seven green blurs swept onto the field, faster than speeding bullets.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but for his mustache, wore robes of pure gold to match the stadium. He strode out onto the field, a silver whistle protruding from under his mustache, with a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick in the other. Hassan mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open, four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and I saw a brief glimpse of the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast of his whistle, Hassan shot into the air after the balls.

"Theeeeeeeey're _off_!" Ludo shouted. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"

The game went by with those passes being so quick and precise that I just about got tired of hearing all the different names of players suddenly having the Quaffle in possession. I dropped my face into my hands because the crowd wasn't helping either, constantly booing or cheering and never being quiet enough for a few seconds.

"_Troy scores!_" Ludo roared. "Ten zero to Ireland!"

"I don't even remember who's who!" I shouted out to Draco.

He smirked, but never took his eye off of the game.

I looked back at the game. The Chasers from the Ireland Team were so good that they hardly gave any chances for the Bulgarians to steal the Quaffle. Ireland was definitely going to win... but the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, was as Draco said – the _best_ Seeker in the _world_. His eyes darting all over the place, his concentration on what was going on never wavered... he would be the one to catch the Snitch.

Did you think I could really tell that? Ha! No, my Inner Eye told me that was what would happen. I really can't tell at _all_ what's happening.

The game was moving faster and more brutal. The Bulgarian Beaters were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers and started trying to prevent them from using some good moves; twice being forced to scatter. Then suddenly – I don't know how – Bulgaria scored their first goal.

The veela started to dance in celebration. When the veela stopped, Bulgaria was in possession of the Quaffle again.

"Watch the Seekers," I said to Draco, having _Seen_ something again.

"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova – oh I say!" Ludo said.

All the wizards in the stadium gasped as the Seekers plummeted through the center of the Chasers so fast it was like they were falling from thousands of feet. Draco followed their descent with his eyes with bated breath, squinting as though looking for the Snitch.

At the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiraled off. The Irish Seeker, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard all across the stadium. Even with my fingers in my ears I heard it. There was a huge groan from the Irish supporters.

Viktor Krum had only made the other Seeker _think_ he'd spotted it.

"How did you –" Draco started to ask.

"It's time-out as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!" Ludo yelled out.

"I may not have Divination but I can See things," I whispered. He was the first person I told.

"Who will win?" he asked.

"You'll find out, don't want you to not be surprised at the end," I said, hoping that was a clue. But he only gushed excitedly, I mentally rolled my eyes. _Bulgaria won't win._

Aidan Lynch got to his feet to loud cheers from Ireland's supporters, mounted his broom, and kicked back off into the air. When Hassan blew the whistle again, the Chasers moved into action immediately.

After I suppose about fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland pulled ahead by ten more goals. Draco looked like he was losing faith as we both looked at the leaderboard which said Ireland was ahead by one hundred and thirty points to ten. The game started getting even dirtier than that, a feat I hadn't thought possible.

An Irish player shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian player flew out to meet her. Whatever happened, I didn't catch it, but there was a scream of rage from the Irish crowd and Hassan's long, shrill whistle blast screamed that it had been a foul.

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbling – excessive use of elbows!" Ludo informed us. "And – yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

The leprechauns had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled and now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.

I laughed joyfully as the referee, Hassan Mostafa, landed right in front of the dancing veela and acted very oddly. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly.

"Now, we can't have have that!" Ludo said, sounding highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"

A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Hassan hard in the shins. He seemed to come to himself and started shouting at the veela – I could just feel his angered embarassment.

"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots! Now _there's_ something we haven't seen before... Oh this could turn nasty..."

Oh, it certainly did: The Bulgarian Beaters, landed on either side of Hassan Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulation toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE."

"I'd like to punch those leprechauns," Draco said threateningly. I, however, wasn't really listening to him, watching the argument.

Hassan didn't look impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments and was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get back into the game. When they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

"_Two_ penalties for Ireland!" Ludo shouted, and the Bulgarian supporters howled with anger – especially Draco. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms... yes... there they go... and Troy takes the Quaffle..."

The match now reached the highest level of ferocity you could ask for. The Beaters on both sides acted without mercy, the Bulgarian Beaters making a point not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they violently swung them through the air. A Bulgarian Chaser shot straight at a Irish Chaser who had the Quaffle and nearly knocked her off her broom.

"_Foul!_" the Irished supporters shrieked as one, all standing up.

"Foul!" Ludo echoed. "Dimitrov skins Moran – deliberately flying to collide there – and it's got to be another penalty – yes, there's the whistle!"

The leprechauns rose into the air again, and now formed a giant hand, making a very rude sign at the veela across the field. The veela lost control and instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what looked to be handfulls of fire at the leprechauns.

Ministry wizards flooded onto the field to separate the veela and the leprechauns with very little success. In other happenings, that battle was nothing compared to that of the actual match.

The Quaffle change hands so quickly I didn't know how Ludo even kept up.

"Levski – Dimitrov – Moran – Troy – Mullet – Ivanova – Moran again – Moran – _Moran scores_!"

The cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians.

An Irish Beater swung heavily at a passing Bludger and hit it as hard as possible toward Viktor Krum, who didn't duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face and as the Bulgarian supporters, even me, groaned, I noticed his nose was bleeding and was likely broken. However, Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle because he had become distracted by the veela throwing a handful of fire at him, setting his broom tail alight.

The Irish Seeker suddenly went into a dive.

"_No!"_ Draco shrieked.

About half og the crowd seemed to notice this as well. Irish supporters rose, screaming Aidan Lynch on. Viktor Krum was on his tail, though, drawing level with Aidan now as they both hurtled to the ground once more.

For the second time, Aidan hit the ground again with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry veela.

Viktor had caught the snitch. He rose gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.

The scoreboard flashed BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170

The Ireland supporters, slow to realize what had just happened, grew louder and louder and soon erupted into screams of delight.

Draco slumped into his seat, a bitter look on his face.

"Well," I said, "Viktor Krum most certainly is the best seeker in the world."

He seemed to get a little happier at that.

"_Ireland wins_!" Ludo shouted, sounding to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "_Krum gets the snitch – but Ireland wins – _good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

I looked over at the Weasley twins who seemed to grin at each other knowingly.

"Well, what did you think?" Draco asked.

"Too much going on," I said. He laughed. "And I'd bet that Becky would think the exact same thing, you know?"

"Vell, ve fought bravely," I heard a gloomy voice say. When I looked to see who said it, it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.

Cornelius Fudge was outraged, "You can speak English! And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

Draco and I burst into fits of laughter as the Bulgarian Minister said with a shrug, "Vell, it vos very funny."

Ludo roared, "And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!"

The Top Box was suddenly magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the blinding white light of the vast golden cup. The two panting wizards who carried it handed it to Cornelius Fudge, who still looked disgruntled about learning he'd been trying sign language with the Bulgarian Minister for no good reason.

"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers – Bulgaria!" Ludo said.

Up the stairs into the Top Box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below applauded for them appreciatively.

One by one, they filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Ludo called out all their names as they came in. Viktor Krum was last and looked like a real mess, still holding the Snitch. When Ludo called his name, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar.

"Don't the mediwizards know how to clean his nose up?" I asked Draco in a murmur.

"Doesn't trust the mediwizards ever since they tried to heal a broken arm he got from a Bludger. They only made it worse, breaking more bones – he hasn't trusted them ever since." Draco said. "He let it heal normally after that, took months but he wouldn't let anyone get near him."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Sounds like a similar thing that happened our second year."

Draco snorted with laughter. "Except that Lockhart took Potter's bones out of his arm and he had to get skelegrow from Madam Pomfrey."

"He was such an idiot with magic, too," I said with a disgusted look. "I could understand not trusting _one_ mediwizard after that, but not _all_ mediwizards."

Draco shrugged, "Maybe he'll let _you_." He then proceeded to whisper something to Lucius.

I snorted at the idea.

The Irish team then came, the Seeker, Aidan Lynch, had to be supported by two of his team members. The second crash had apparently dazed him, his eyes looking strangley unfocused. But he grinned as two other teammates lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval.

Draco poked me – I hadn't noticed him stand up... and _right behind him was Viktor Krum_.

"Wha –?"

"I told him about last year when you fixed Marcus's nose up. You did it _impeccably_... he's agreed to let you fix his nose."

"Okay," I said slowly, standing up and pushing Draco down into his seat.

I took my wand out and pointed it at Viktor's nose. "_Episkey!" _he staggered, but didn't start shouting at me. That spell was to stop it from continuing to bleed and fix it so it wasn't broken. "_Tergeo..._" The blood cleared up. He touched his nose and gave a surprising smile – after seeing the scowling on his posters, I hadn't expected that.


	8. Chapter 8

"You oughtta make the front page for that!" Draco said excitedly as we made our way back to the tent in the large crowd with raucous singing on either side of us.

"Oh, _please_," I said, rolling my eyes. "I fixed his broken nose, _big deal!_"

"Melody, it means he'll probably trust you if he gets hurt again!" he said.

"I'm not going to another game, though, so what's the point of gaining his trust if I'm not going to be around?" I asked.

"He'll be around during the school year, did you know he goes to Durmstrang?" he asked.

"No, I didn't know that... but what does that have to do with during the school year?"

"The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons schools will be coming to Hogwarts for the year..."

"_Why_?"

"Oh, they're going to host the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts this year! I hadn't realized that you didn't know!"

"As far as I knew, it was supposed to be a secret to students..." I said softly.

The Triwizard Tournament hadn't been done for years considering the large number of deaths that came from them. I had read a bit about them; there were three different tasks for the wizards to face and whoever won got a thousand Galleons in prize money and the Triwizard Cup for their school.

"Well, I can't wait for this year! Hopefully this will take up so much time that we don't have to do school."

"Okay, now really, _what_ is the point of going to school if we aren't going to learn anything?"

"We'll be learning a lot just by watching the three wizards go through the challenges! With whatever they're doing, we'll know what not to do in a horrible situation."

I rolled my eyes.

"We're expected to go to every challenge so don't even think about skipping out!"

"No one would even notice that I'm not there," I said, "I'd be completely exempt from everything."

"We'd most certainly notice."

Once back at the tent, Draco took out his Nimbus 2001 and flew around for quite a while, trying to look like Viktor Krum no doubt. He wasn't as nimble on his broom as Viktor had been, however, but I just watched him fly around with amusement.

Lucius was whispering something to Narcissa and went upstairs to get something. He came back down a few minutes later with a mask in his hand.

"Melody, Draco, do you want to watch? Some friends have come up with the plan to scare those _unwanted_ _Mudbloods_ just for a bit of fun."

"Yeah!" Draco said excitedly.

_That's **sick,**_ I thought. I gave a shrug, however, and said, "Sure." Narcissa stayed behind.

"Let's not tell Becky or Marcus about this," Draco whispered in my ear as we left.

"They'll hear about it from the papers, anyways," I said.

"Not that we watched –"

"Okay, okay, I got it," I said, slapping my hand over his mouth.

Later on, Draco and I stood out by the edge of the woods – knowing the wizards and Muggles would use it as an escape. The screams started – fires were made – wizards all ran out of their tents and ran into the wood. Draco didn't hide from any of them at all while I sat hidden behind a tree – sickened by the terrified looks on their faces.

I saw from the distance the crowd of wizards with the masks on their faces – the Deatheaters – with their wands in the air, laughing because they had a Muggle family up above them like marionettes. The Deatheaters blasted tents out of their way, several catching fire. The screaming grew louder.

We saw the twins, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione run toward us. Draco smirked at me.

Ron yelled with pain, falling over. Hermione stopped so abruptly that Harry ran into her.

"What happened?" she asked anxiously. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid – _lumos_!"

Her wand illuminated and she directed it across the path. Ron lay sprawled on the ground, a scowl on his face.

"Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," Draco drawled. The three of them turned to look at him sharply, he leaned again a tree looking relaxed and seemed to be alone to them.

While Ron told Draco to do something, I poked my head around the tree to look at Hermione. She saw me and I mouthed to her, _go before he does something!_ She nodded and mouthed back, _are you okay?_ I nodded, _disturbed but Draco wanted to watch_!

"Language, Weasley," Draco said. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like _her_ spotted, would you?" He had nodded at Hermione. At that same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around us.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked defiantly.

"Granger, they're after –" I kicked him in the leg so he said, "– _Muggles_. D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around... they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

"Hermione's a witch," Harry snarled at him.

"Have it your way, Potter. If you think they can't spot a Mudblood –" I kicked him again, but I was too late, "– stay where you are."

"You watch your mouth!" Ron shouted angrily.

"Never mind, Ron," Hermione said quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Draco.

A bang came from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything else that had happened. Several people screamed and Draco chuckled softly.

"Scare easily, don't they? I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to – trying to rescue the Muggles?" Draco asked. _Finally!_ I thought, having been ready to kick him again.

"Wherere _your_ parents?" Harry asked. I could feel his temper rising the more Draco talked so relaxed and comfortable. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

"Well... if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"Oh come on," Hermione said, shooting Draco a disgusted look, "let's go and find the others."

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," Draco sneered.

"Come _on_," Hermione repeated, pulling Harry and Ron up the path with surprising strength.

I kicked Draco once more.

"_Stop kicking me!_" he finally said.

"Oh, just reminding you not to curse so horribly at terrified people next time," I said lightly. Draco grumbled softly to himself.

As more wizards ran into the woods, I closed my eyes and leaned back against the tree.

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking down the path when they came across packs of people on the path, all looking over their shoulders nervously toward the commotion at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas were arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly, "Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue –"_

"_Er – what?" Ron asked._

"_Oh..." The girl who spoke turned her back on them, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, "'Ogwarts."_

"_Beauxbatons," Hermione muttered to Harry and Ron._

"_Sorry?" said Harry._

"_They must go to Beauxbatons," she said. "You know... Beauxbatons Academy of Magic... I read about it in **An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe**."_

"_Oh... yeah... right," Harry said, not really understanding what she said._

"_Fred and George can't have gone that far," Ron said, pulling out his wand and lighting it like Hermione to squint up the path. Harry dug around in his pockets of his jacket, but then his eyes went wide and he checked them more fervently._

"_Ah, no, I don't believe it... I've lost my wand!"_

"_You're kidding!"_

_Ron and Hermione raised their wands higher to spread the narrow beams of light father on the ground. Harry looked everywhere around him, but couldn't see where his wand had gone to._

"_Maybe it's back in the tent," Ron said._

"_Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested._

"_Yeah, maybe..." Harry said uncertainly._

_A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. A house-elf wearing a tea towel was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a peculiar fashion with strained difficulty, an obvious invisible someone trying to hold her back. Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't see the invisible person._

"_There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward, laboring to keep running. "People high – high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"_

_The elf named Winky disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought hard against the force restraining her._

"_What's up with her?" Ron asked, looking after her curiously. "Why can't she run properly?"_

"_Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," Harry said._

"_You know, house-elves get a **very** raw deal!" Hermione said indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch mader her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone** do** something about it?"_

"_Well, the elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said indifferently. "You heard old Winky back at the match... 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun'... that's what she likes, being bossed around..."_

_Hermione was hot with fury at him, "It's people like **you, **Ron, who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to –"_

_Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood. Ron seemed glad it cut her off._

"_Let's just keep moving, shall we?" Ron said, glancing edgily at Hermione._

_They followed the dark path deeper into the wood. They passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they probably won betting on the match and who seemed not to notice what horrors were going on at the campsite. Farther along the path they walked into a path of silvery light and looked through the trees to see three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearning, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom talked to them rather loudly._

"_I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."_

"_No, you're not!" his friend yelled. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron... but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far –"_

_A third young wizard, with pimples strongly visible in the light of the veela, cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."_

_Harry snorted with laughter, probably recognizing the young man, and turned to Ron to say something. Ron's face, however, had gone oddly slack and in the next second he yelled out, "Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?"_

"_**Honestly!**" Hermione said. She and Harry grabbed Ron firmly by the arms and dragged him away. By the time the sounds of the veela and their admirers faded away, they were in the heart of the wood and Ron had gotten control of himself again. They seemed to be alone now, everything being much quieter._

_Harry looked around, "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."_

_The words barely came out of his mouth when Ludo Bagman emerged from a tree just ahead of them. Surprisingly there was a great change in the man's demeanour. He was no longer an excited child-like man with a rosy face. He looked white and strained._

"_Who's that?" he asked, squinting and blinking at them to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"_

_They looked at each other in surprise._

"_Well – there's a sort of riot going on," Ron said._

_Ludo stared at him in shock, "What?"_

"_At the campsite... some people have got hold of a family of Muggles..."_

_Ludo swore loudly, looking distracted, "Damn them!" Without another word, he Disapparated._

"_Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" Hermione asked with a frown._

"_He was a great Beater, though," Ron said, leading the way off the path into a small clearing and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of the tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them."_

_He took a small figure of Viktor Krum out of his pocket, set it down on the ground, and watched it walk around. Like Viktor Krum, the model was slightly duck-footed and round-shouldered, much less of an impressive person on his feet._

_After a while, Hermione said, "I hope the others are okay."_

"_They'll be fine," Ron said._

"_Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy," Harry said, sitting down next to Ron and watching the figure of Viktor slouch over the fallen leaves. "He's always said he'd like to get something on him."_

"_That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right."_

"_Those poor Muggles, though," Hermione said nervously. "What if they can't get them down?"_

"_They will," Ron told her reassuringly. "They'll find a way."_

"_Mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight! I mean, how do they expect to get away with it? Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just –"_

_She broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder, Harry and Ron looked quickly around too. Some number of feet away, Winky the house-elf fell over and a man threw an Invisibility Cloak off of himself. He had straw-colored hair, and looked rather crazy – he hushed poor Winky and took out a wand._

"_Hello?" Harry called out. The man looked at him and back up at the sky, a mad grin lingering on his face. "Who's there?"_

_The man shot the wand into the air and shouted, "**Morsmordre!**"_

_Something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the wand, flying above the treetops into the sky._

"_What the –" Ron gasped, springing to his feet, staring up at what had appeared._

_It was a large emerald skull with a serpent protruding from the mouth like a tongue. It rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke._

_The wood all around them erupted with screams and Winky threw the Invisibility Cloak over the man and hugged around where his legs were. She snapped her fingers and the wand appeared in her hand, she strained against the movement of the man._

"_Who's there?" Harry called out again._

"_Harry, come on, **move**!" Hermione said, seizing the collar of his shirt and dragging him backward._

"_What's the matter?" Harry asked in surprise, looking at the terrified look on her face._

"_It's the Dark Mark, Harry! You-Know-Who's sign!"_

"_**Voldemort's –?**"_

"_Harry, come **on**!"_

_Ron hurriedly scooped up his Viktor Krum figure and the three of them started to cross the clearing, but before they even took a few hurried steps, there were a series of popping noises all around them._

_Harry whirled around, noticing all the wands that were pointing at them, and unhesitatingly yelled, "**Duck!**" He seized Ron and Hermione and pulled them down to the ground._

"_**Stupefy!**" twenty voices roared. The spells went over the three of them, but quite a few hit Winky and the unknown man. They fell over with a thud that no one heard over the shouting of many more spells._

"_Stop!" a voice yelled. It was Arthur Weasley. "**Stop! That's my son!**"_

_Harry rolled over as Arthur Weasley strode toward them, looking terrified. "Ron – Harry – Hermione – are you all right?" His voice sounded shaky._

"_Out of the way, Arthyr," a cold, curt voice said. It was Barty Crouch, he and other Ministry wizards closed in on them. Mr. Crouch's face was contorted with rage. "Which of you did it? Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"_

"_We didn't do that!" Harry said, gesturing up at the Mark._

"_We didn't do anything!" Ron said indignantly, looking at his father and rubbing his elbow. "What did you want to attack us for?"_

"_Do not lie, sir!" Mr. Crouch shouted, his wand pointed directly at Ron. His eyes looked as if they wanted to pop out of his head and he looked rather mad like the man who cast the spell. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"_

"_Barty," a witch whispered, wearing a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to –"_

"_Where did the Mark come from, you three?" Mr. Weasley said quickly._

"_Over there," Hermione pointed at the clearing, her voice shaky. "There was someone behind the trees... they shouted words – an incantation –"_

_Mr. Crouch didn't hide his disbelief, "Oh, stood over there, did they? Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy –"_

_Mr. Crouch was the only Ministry member who seemed to think it was them. The other Ministry members now pointed their wands in the direction Hermione had indicated, all squinting through the trees._

"_We're too late," the same witch said. "They'll have Disapparated."_

"_I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. "Our stunners went right through those trees... There's a good chance we got them..."_

"_Amos, be careful!" a few wizards said warningly. Amos squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched through the clearing, and disappeared from their view into the darkness. He made his way to where Winky was laying stunned, not noticing the invisible body next to her._

"_Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's – but – blimey..."_

"_You've got someone?" Mr. Crouch shouted, sounding very highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"_

_Amos picked Winky up, taking the wand out of her hand and walked back to the crowd of wizards. When everyone saw who it was, Mr. Crouch didn't move or speak as Amos deposited Winky on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards stared at Mr. Crouch who – for a few seconds – remained there, staring transfixed at his house-elf. He suddenly seemed to come to life again._

"_This – cannot – be. No –" he said jerkily, moving quickly around Amos and striding off toward the place where Winky had been found._

"_No point, Mr. Crouch," Amos called after him. "There's no one else there."_

_Mr. Crouch bent down and poked around until he found the invisible man. He took the Invisibility Cloak off to reveal his face and his own became ghostly white, his mustache started twitching._

"_Bit embarassing," Amos said grimly in the background. "Barty Crouch's house-elf... I mean to say..."_

"_Come off it, Amos," Arthur said quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."_

"_Yeah," Amos said, "and she **had** a wand."_

"_**What**?" Arthur asked._

"_Here, look." Amos held up the wand to show it to Arthur. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. **No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand**."_

_Mr. Crouch threw the Invisibility Cloak over his son again, and started walking back, his hands twitching as well._

_A pop sounded. "The Dark Mark!" the man panted. It was Ludo's voice. "Who did it? Did you catch them? Barty! What's going on?"_

_Mr. Crouch had appeared into the clearing once more._

"_Where have you been, Barty?" Ludo asked. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too – gulping gargoyles!" He had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to **her**?"_

"_I have been busy, Ludo," Mr. Crouch said, barely moving his lips but talking in the same jerky fashion. "And my elf has been stunned."_

"_Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why –?"_

_Comprehension suddenly dawned on his face. He looked from the Mark to Winky and then to Mr. Crouch._

"_**No!** Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"_

"_And she had one," Amos said. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."_

_Mr. Crouch didn't look as though he'd heard Amos, who seemed to take this as a yes. He raised his wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "**Ennervate!**"_

_Winky slowly stirred, her great brown eyes open and she blinked several times, unknowing of what was going on around her. She raised herself shakily into a sitting position. She first caught sight of Amos's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes up to stare into his face. Even more slowly, she looked up into the sky and gave a gasp, looking around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs._

"_Elf!" Amos said sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"_

_She began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts._

"_As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago. And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"_

"_I – I – I is not doing it, sir!" she gasped in terror. "I is not knowing how, sir!"_

"_You were found with a wand in your hand!" Amos barked, brandishing it in front of her._

"_Hey – that's mine!" Harry said suddenly._

"_Excuse me?" Amos asked incredulously._

"_That's my wand! I dropped it!"_

"_You dropped it?" Amos repeated in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"_

_Arthur angrily told him, "Amos, think who you're talking to! Is **Harry Potter** likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"_

"_Er – of course not," Amos mumbled in embarassment. "Sorry... carried away..."_

"_I didn't drop it there, anyway," Harry said, jerking his thumb toward the clearing where the Mark was cast. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."_

"_So," Amos said, turning to Winky again. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"_

"_I is not doing magic with it, sir!" Winky squealed, in tears. "I is... I is... I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"_

"_It wasn't her!" Hermione said, nervous but determined. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeer!" She looked to Harry and Ron for some support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"_

"_No," Harry said, shaking his head. "It didn't sound like an elf."_

"_Yeah, it was a human voice," Ron said._

_Amos looked as though he was losing all the evidence he needed, so he growled, "Well, we'll soon see. There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"_

_Winky trembled and shook her head as Amos raised his own wand and placed it tip to tip with Harry's._

"_**Prior Incantato!**" he roared._

_Hermione gasped in horror as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was just a mere shadow of the one in the sky._

"_**Deletrius!**" Amos shouted, and the skull vanished. "So," he said with a kind of savage triumph._

"_I is not doing it!" Winky squealed, absolutely terrified. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"_

"_**You've been caught red-handed elf!**" Amos roared quite madly. "**Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!**"_

"_Amos," Arthur said loudly, "think about it... precious few wizards know how to do that spell... Where would she have learned it?"_

"_Perhaps Amos is suggesting," Mr. Crouch said slowly, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"_

_The silence was that of horrid shock, especially from Amos. "Mr. Crouch... not... not at all..."_

"_You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are **least** likely to conjure that Mark!" Mr. Crouch barked, still **very** furiously angry at Amos. "Harry Potter – and myself! I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"_

_Amos was highly discomforted by this, "Of course – everyone knows –"_

"_And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging once again._

"_Mr. Crouch, I – I never suggested you had anything to do with it!"_

"_If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory! Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"_

"_She – she might've picked it up anywhere –"_

"_Precisely, Amos," Arthur said. "**She might have picked it up anywhere**... Winky?" he said kindly; she flinched as if he'd shouted at her too. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"_

_She was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers._

"_I – I is finding it... finding it there, sir..." she whispered, "there... in the trees, sir..."_

"_You see, Amos?" Arthur asked him. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."_

"_But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" Amos said impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"_

_Winky trembled worse than before. Her eyes flickered from Amos, to Ludo, and then to Mr. Crouch. She gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir... no one..."_

"_Amos," Mr. Crouch said curtly, seeming to be back to his normal self again. "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."_

_Amos didn't seem to think much of the suggestion at all._

"_You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly._

"_M-m-master..." Winky stammed, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "M-m-master, p-p-please..."_

_He stared back at her with no pity. "Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible. I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. **This means clothes**."_

"_No!" Winky shrieked, prostrating herself at his feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"_

_The only way to set a house-elf free was to give them clothes, and poor Winky was in tears at the thought of being fired._

_Hermione was **angry**. "But she was frightened! Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"_

_Mr. Crouch took a step backward from poor Winky and gave the poor elf a look that seemed to make one believe she was the lowest filth he'd ever seen. He then looked over Hermione and said coldly, "I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me. I have no use for a servent who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."_

_Winky's sobs echoed around the clearing, they had become so loud._

I was shaken awake so vigorously that I threw my hand out and punched whoever was shaking me awake. "Wha –? Oh... sorry, Draco," I said. Draco was rubbing his chin as I sat up.

"It's okay... good thing you only got my chin," he said.

My bag lay next to me and the Malfoys stood behind Draco looking panicked.

"Come, let's go!" Lucius said impatiently, helping me up. "Get up, Melody, we need to go!"

"Why?" I asked, picking my bag up along the way. _Afraid of the Dark Mark?_ I thought, turning to look into the sky.

Narcissa grabbed onto my arm and Disapparated. We were suddenly back at Malfoy Manor.

"You may stay here for the night," Lucius said. "You can go back home tomorrow when –"

Draco and Narcissa left the room, probably to go to bed. I cut Lucius off by using my wand to close the door and cast a silencing charm on the room. Lucius looked slightly surprised that I was already skilled at casting magic without saying a word.

"Why _flee_ from the Dark Mark?" I asked him in an angry voice – only because dad would be angry when _he_ found out about it. Barty Crouch Jr. had cast it and his Death Eaters _fled_.

He was speechless. "M – _Melody_ it – it – it was –"

I crossed my arms, he was afraid of my anger. "He won't like it you know, to hear that when a trusted Death Eater of his put it into the air and any others that used to follow him _fled in fear of it!_ Imagine when he asks me about it –"

"No, Melody, I –" he tried saying, and couldn't think of anything else to say.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Thought so..." I said softly. I then raised the enchantments off the room and left the room, Lucius looking after me with utter terror on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

I awoke early the next morning and when I got up to look around everyone else in the manor was fast asleep, having not drifted off for as long as I had. _I had really seen something happen... and at that exact moment that I was asleep... did I just follow them in spirit? Ah! There's no time to think of this right now, it's time to go see dad!_

I dressed into black robes and left a note behind telling Draco I went home and thanking him for taking me to the World Cup.

Down in Lucius's office again, I stood in the fireplace with my bag on my shoulders and with floo powder in my hand. I threw it down and shouted, "Riddle House!" I flew through the chimneys, and landed in the lit fireplace of the Riddle House. I stepped out quickly for the - sadly important – matters I had to attend to.

"Did you hear the news about what happened at the World Cup?" I asked in Parseltongue, putting as much anger into it as I could muster. Wormtail was so frightened at my temper and that I was speaking Parseltongue that he tried to edge out of the room.

"Wormtail!" dad shouted in English; Wormtail jumped, having been so close at getting out of there.

"Y-Yes, master?" he asked.

"Give Melody the _Daily Prophet_ that just came out this morning," he commanded.

"Yes, milord, right away milord!" Wormtail said, grabbing a newspaper off of a nightstand and coming over to me. He knelt down on the ground and bowed his head to look at my feet as he held the newspaper above his head.

I took it and Wormtail scurried away. The headline read: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with the black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark.

A skim told me this, "It doesn't tell of how the deatheaters all positively _fled_ when they saw it!"

Dad looked murderous, which made his form look even scarier.

I continued, "The Dark Mark went up into the sky, the Malfoys grabbed me and their son and all our stuff, and _Disapparated_ home as _fast_ as they could! The other deatheaters unmistakably left long before that!"

"I will deal with them another time..." dad said, his anger unmistakable. Wormtail whimpered to himself, afraid that his anger will turn on him in the meantime. "But something is amiss... who conjured it? I can't imagine that you would know it."

"Well, I know it now," I said, kneeling down on the floor beside him. "I fell asleep as the deatheaters played around with _Mudbloods_ and I _saw Barty Crouch Jr._ He fought the Imperius Curse and conjured the Dark Mark to show his loyalty to you and no one caught him, but he'll be back under his dad's Imperius Curse by now. His house-elf will have been fired after that fiasco and it will just be those two."

Dad grinned maliciously, "Excellent, this is _wonderful_ news, Melody... go home for now, I will send Barty and Wormtail to get you when it's time to get Moody – ah, don't worry, I'll be fine alone."

I nodded with a fake reluctant gaze, "See you later." Back into the fireplace, the Flame-Repelling Charm still working magnificently, I took floo powder out of my pouch, dropped it and shouted, "Ollivander Home!"

I landed in the fireplace and as soon I came out I was suddenly being smothered in a hug.

"_Mom_!" I mumbled into her shirt. "I'm going to _suffocate_!"

She let go of me and looked as though she had almost been ready to burst into tears. The _Daily Prophet_ was in her hand.

"I take it you got worried," I said, taking the _Prophet_ out of her hand and throwing it on the nearby coffee table. "I'm fine," I told her soothingly, "the deatheaters didn't go after me, I'm not a Muggle. I stood around in the woods with Draco while Lucius and Narcissa helped get everyone down safe and sound."

She caught me in a hug again, my arms stuck to my sides.

"Oh, calm down already, Orele!" Gerald said, walking down the stairs. "Look at her, she's all right, I don't see a scratch on her!"

Turning us around to where I was now looking at the fireplace, she told him hotly, "I was scared Gerald! You would be too if Melody was _your_ daughter, you daft –"

"You have two other children, what's the worry?" he asked.

Mom let go of me and ran at him, he laughed as he ran up the stairs away from her. "I'll get you for that!" she shouted angrily.

I rubbed my arms as I went into the dining room where Nick and Jim sat at the table eating breakfast. "Good morning," I said as if nothing had happened, getting some cereal out of a cabinet. "How did you two sleep last night? Do you like it here so far?"

Jim chuckled appreciatively, "We're loving it. I never even knew Orele _had_ a brother and here she is, fighting with him as if they were both still young."

"Think of the shock for me," I mumbled softly as I poured some Cheerios into a bowl and put it back, going to the fridge to get milk. "Imagine this. First it's: _Melody, you're a wizard_. Second, it is: _Oh, Jim isn't your real father_. Third: _You are the granddaughter of the infamous wandmaker, Garrick Ollivander_. And the list goes on!" Jim laughed at each point I made, and as I poured the milk into my bowl and put it away, he seemed to be contemplating something.

"You've changed quite a bit from the girl I took care of..." he said softly.

I looked up at him as I sat in a chair next to him. "Really?"

He pointed upstairs, "Your mom has shown me all the grades you've gotten over the years, and these saved letters from a Professor Snape about this tutoring program you're in... that you're the youngest to join it and will finish school earlier than anyone else."

I took a bite of cereal and shrugged. After chewing and swallowing, I said, "It's no big deal."

"Are you kidding? It's a _big_ deal! You – you didn't –"

"I didn't do as well in Muggle school... I've noticed," I said. "I find that wizard school is much more interesting than Muggle school. It's like – _fantasy_ instead of history. It makes it a lot easier to pay attention to."

He gave a proud smile, "And you help your grandfather out at the wand shop."

I nodded, and then remembered something. "Speaking of that... I met someone in the robe shop two days ago and gave them their wand. Her name is Lissy, and she's in a Muggle orphanage... I wanted to adopt her."

He looked rather interested.

"Mom said she'd have to think about it because we don't have Muggle money, but my friend's dad got Muggle money for the Quidditch World Cup since it was on land. He told his dad about my little situation and – he gave me all the Muggle money he had left... I just don't know how much adoption is."

"It's around a hundred and fifty," mom said, coming into the room with a smug look on her face. "How much did Lucius give you?"

I took the money out of my bag and said, "Two hundred some."

"Well then," she said. "I say we'll go get Lissy. No doubt that woman will recognize me when I come in... but we'll do it while you've gone."

I nodded and smiled, "I can work with that."

"By the way," Jim said as mom picked up the Muggle money and pocketed it. "This friend you're talking about... is _he_ this boyfriend Gerald's told me about."

My face burned and I just knew it had gone red. "Um... no," I said with small laughter. "The friend's name is Draco. My boyfriend is Marcus, and he's gone to France for the summer with his family. So you can't meet him just yet."

"Aw, shoot," Jim said comically.

Mom and I laughed.

A _poof_ came from the fireplace and mom went to go check it out, "Now who could that be?"

I heard running and turned around to have me fall over in my chair with _Becky_ on top of me. "Hey, _geroff_!" I mumbled.

"Hello Becky, long time no see," mom said humorously.

Becky took her weight off of me to look me in the face with her Cheshire-like grin. She had short, curly brown hair and was a rather crazy person – which was why I was friends with her. "I thought you might be dead!" she shouted.

"I'm not dead, I'm not deaf, now get off!" I said.

"Why?" she asked, looking as though she was going to give her 'you hurt me' charade.

"So I can hug you properly," I said with a smile. She got off, helping me up, and I hugged her tightly. She was shorter than me but she never showed that she cared. "Nice to see you again – and oh I got something for you at the World Cup."

She let go of me to jump up and down excitedly. "Oh, _what is it, what is it?_"

I reached into my bag and took out the scarf, the lion roared and Nick's eyes widened. He wasn't afraid, but rather looked at it interestedly. "A Bulgarian scarf," I said, handing it to her. "Though I suppose some men would've rathered the veela, I thought the lion was good."

She captured me in a strangling hug, "Thank you!... what did you get for Marcus?"

"A mini Firebolt," I said, taking out the two Firebolt models and hold them in my hand. They floated on my palm and Nick watched those two.

"Is the other Firebolt for you?" she asked.

"Nope," I said, pocketing them. I pointed to Jim and Nick, "Becky, this is my American stepdad Jim, and my brother Nick. Jim, Nick, this is Becky."

"Nice to meet you," Jim said.

"Oooh, I've heard so much about you!" she said in interest. Her bubbly personality made even Nick smile, and she looked to be on the verge of saying something to him when I slapped my hand over her mouth.

"We'll be upstairs if you need us... I have yet to say hello to other people who have probably missed me." I then grabbed Becky by the arm and dragged her upstairs. "Nick is shy," I said softly, "I tried talking to him and he just looked away and didn't say a word." We came to my grandparents' room, they were just getting up. There was a big hugging ceremony there too.

"You aren't coming to work today, are you?" grandpa asked as grandma made her way downstairs. When I shook my head, he said, "Be sure to come tomorrow."

"I will," I said, leading the way to Blake's room.

"Why didn't you tell me your stepdad and half-brother were coming to visit?" she asked.

I took a peak in Blake's room – he was fast asleep so I continued on to my room where Bodoujn sat on the bed and meowed when I came in. I sat next to him and pet his head, "That's just it... I didn't _know_ they were coming. I found them at the match." I proceeded to tell her what had happened there and Becky couldn't help her burst of laughter at hearing Draco accidentally knocked a tree over. "Draco still doesn't know that I kept them from performing the Memory Charm on them because I knew them."

"Well, he doesn't have to know... you know how he is about Muggles," Becky said, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "This scarf is _nice_!"

I laughed. "Oh, I forgot –" and I told her about Lissy and Miss Roachers.

Becky was aghast to hear about the woman's rudeness toward me... and my threats toward her. "Never threaten someone!" she said.

"Why not? _You_ do it all the time," I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"But... I've never heard _you_ threaten anyone before!"

"Au contraire! Last year when everyone stared at me after we had a fight with Draco, I had threatened to hex them and Marcus has never let me forget it." I said, remembering how for most of the year before Draco ignored Becky and I. We had been fighting for a while until after Christmas when we finally made it out.

"That... that was different," she said.

"Maybe it was," I said, "because if they hadn't stopped staring at me I probably _would_ have hexed them all... besides Becky, what Miss Roachers doesn't know won't hurt her. She deserved it if you ask me, and if you had a talk with her _you'd_ be wanting to threaten her, too."

"So... you might adopt Lissy?" she asked.

I nodded, "I certainly don't want to leave her in the care of that woman for much longer... and I do want to send her a few birthday presents..."

The next day I went to the shop with grandpa, I had letters written for Marcus and Lissy with the Firebolt attached – in Lissy's I had to write that it could really fly, and bade her a happy birthday. I sent Marcus's out on mom's owl Ebony – to her biggest disgruntlement because I said I'd already sent my last letter of the summer – but I brought Lissy's to Diagon Alley with me.

For my lunchbreak, I went to the Magical Menagerie and looked around a bit. A sleek black male Barn Owl caught my eye. I went over and took its cage, "Hey there," I said softly, putting my finger in. He nipped it affectionately.

I bought the Barn Owl and when I got out of the store I said, "I have a job for you already." The owl hooted excitedly. "I've bought you for a friend of mine named Lissy... she has brown, wavy hair and hazel eyes and she lives in Wool's Orphanage." I tied the letter to the owl's leg, writing in for Lissy's benefit that the owl is a male and he belongs to her. I also put a lightweight spell on the cage to last the journey and tied it to his leg as well. "You're going to love her," I said softly, "have a safe journey." He flew away, excited to see his new owner.

That week was more of a regular week until August thirty-first, the night before going back to Hogwarts.

I was in the living room – everyone else was asleep – and it was about one in the morning when Barty and Wormtail Apparated there. I stood to greet them.

"C-Can you Apparate with her?" Wormtail asked, terrorized.

The two of us rolled our eyes at him, but I took Barty's arm and we Disapparated to Alastor Moody's home.

We landed in the front of the home and I instantly moved around near the back, setting off dustbins. Barty quickly donned a Disillusionment Charm on me and I made my way to the back door, which was surprisingly unlocked. I opened it and made my way in.

From behind, I noticed Barty and Wormtail were having difficulty subduing Alastor Moody. His hair was a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair and he had a wooden leg that made dull clunks as he walked backward – casting spells frantically at Barty and Wormtail. Wormtail was surpisingly very good at the duel.

I looked around me for something and found... _huh, he leaves a stunner lying around in his home._ I grabbed it and pointed it at him, _how do you work this thing?... ah there's the trigger._ I pulled it and it hit him square in the back.

His wand flew out of his hand and as he fell over, I caught his wand – quite nearly dropping it. _Lord forgive me for doing this_, I thought. Barty and Wormtail looked at me in surprise – well, at the wand floating in empty air – panting. "Well _come_ _on_," I said with an impatient voice, "we haven't got all day! The Ministry will be here sooner than you think with those dustbins going off."

Barty chuckled, "He didn't hear or see you... that's impressive."

"Neither did you," I said, coming over so he could remove the Disillusionment Charm. I looked down at Alastor Moody. Every inch of skin on his face was scarred, his mouth like a diagonal gash and a large chunk of his nose was missing. His regular eye was closed while his other was a fake and ceaselessly spun around as if he were still awake. It was large, round as a coin, and the color of electric blue – never blinking. His hands were scarred bloody bad, too. "Look at one gets for a life of being an Auror," I added, feeling pity for the poor man. I bent down and plucked a hair from his head, "Wormtail... the Polyjuice Potion."

Wormtail quickly took a flask out of his pocket and handed it to me, I opened it and dropped the hair in. I gave the flask and the wand to Barty and whispered, "Good luck." To Wormtail, I took hold of his arm and he started shaking, "Take me back to the Ollivander Home and then go to Riddle House... dad shan't be kept waiting alone for too long."

He nodded fervently, waved to Barty, and Disapparated.


	10. Chapter 10

"Whaddaya want?" I mumbled into my pillow as my mom shook me awake the next morning.

"The train leaves in two hours..." she said, walking out of the room.

I popped up out of bed and quickly go dressed. _I shouldn't have stayed up so late... most teens my age do it for no reason and yet I did... for a __**horrible**__ reason at that. _I looked out the window to see it was raining very heavily. "Oh joyous," I mumbled sarcastically, grabbing my umbrella, trunk, and Bodoujn's cage – in which he'd already walked in and lay down to sleep. "Good for you, you get to sleep," I groaned at him.

Bodoujn meowed sleepily and I made my way down the stairs.

Mom, Jim,Gerald, Nick, and Blake were up downstairs.

"Are you _all_ going?" I asked.

Each of them nodded.

Mom explained. "Your grandparents said their goodbyes last night, so they're going to sleep in today. Jim will be driving, Gerald will be in the passenger seat, I will be in the back seat with Blake on my lap next to you and Nick. It might be better for me to sit in the middle for Blake's safety... we all want to see you off."

"Wow, even _you_ Gerald?" I asked with a smirk.

He scoffed but didn't answer.

I giggled, "Love you too, Gerald."

We squeezed into the car just as mom had explained it. Apparently, Jim really wanted to drive just so he could understand the strange difference with driving on the left side of the road instead of the right side.

As Jim drove, he asked, "Does it really matter to wizards if you're a – a Muggle is it – or a Muggle-born wizard or witch?"

"Yes," I said. "To Draco and Marcus it is of the utmost importance, and that's mostly just the Slytherin House for you. It's mainly comprised of pureblood students who don't think Muggle-borns should become witches or wizards. Becky and I are sort of the odd ones out in there. They can't do anything to you in an environment with most other witches and wizards that don't care – like King's Cross – but they _will_ do their best to insult you."

"Huh..." Jim said. "Fascinating."

I snorted and gave a small choke of laughter, "_Seriously_? I tell you that you'll probably be insulted and you think it's _fascinating_?"

He chuckled, "I was made fun of in high school, I learned not to listen. If you pretend you don't care, they'll go away."

I shrugged, "Makes sense." _Unless your ignorance makes them so annoyed they cast a spell on you – and without a wand you have no chance of winning a fight with them... perhaps there's a way of learning magic without a wand since you have magic before getting one – **idea!**_

"Orele, do you think Nick will be a wizard?" Jim asked.

"I think it's possible. But he might not... for years when we were married, I was hoping with all my heart that Melody wasn't a witch. She wasn't showing any signs, but she was surprisingly able to keep her magical abilities a secret untile _I_ told her I was a witch." Mom looked to be stuck in a memory. "Then one day while she was in school, Albus Dumbledore – Headmaster of Hogwarts- came to say he knew she had magic. Though there were many wizarding schools nearby in America... Hogwarts had always been like home to me so I wanted her to go there."

"When did you meet Blake's father?"

"_Really,_ you're having this conversation _now_?" I asked.

Mom laughed. "Melody doesn't particularly _like_ her _British _stepdad. But I was in love with him when I was a teenager, so we tried again."

"Try this," I said, disgust in my voice. "Not particularly liking him doesn't cut it. I absolutely _despised_ him! _No one liked him_ unless they only paid attention to his looks and that _included_ my friend Becky. Do you know how excited she got when you named Blake after that _git_?"

"The man's name was Blake?" Jim asked.

"Blake's full name is Blake Gilderoy Lockhart... take off Blake and that was the simple name of that idiotic man."

"Melody, calm down, and stop gossiping," mom said.

"Pf! That's not gossip, that's my _opinion_."

"So..." Jim said, to help mom with my unveiled hate for the man. "What happened to him."

"Lost his whole memory. He'll be spending the rest of his life in St. Mungo's so he's not a danger to himself or anyone else," mom said, giving me a look to keep me from saying anything further about how bad he was – which I had been about to go into his inability with magic. The only magic he was good at was Memory Charms, which he used to his advantage to become a fraud – erasing the memories of wizards and taking their work and putting it up as his own, putting in some details to make it his, most of which was his favorite color and other bloody stuff like that. Ron's wand had been broken that year, and they took the coward down into the Chamber of Secrets. He tried to get out of it by taking Ron's wand to perform a Memory Charm on Ron and Harry so they couldn't save Ginny or myself from a horrible fate. The Memory Charm hit him instead and he lost _all_ of his memory.

We reached King's Cross Station and hurried out. Mom got me a trolly and we placed my stuff on it.

"Where is this platform nine and three quarters?" Jim asked.

"Melody!" a voice called. I turned around and saw Lissy running toward me – on her trolley was her suitcase and the owl I got her, just sitting in his cage rather peacefully. "Thank goodness I found you!" She was out of breath and looked as if it was a great relief to see me. "I don't know where platform nine and three quarters is! I asked a security guard and he thought I was playing a joke on him!"

I pointed to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, for Lissy's and Jim's sakes. "You have to run through the wall... makes it hard to get to if you're a Muggle. And you have to make sure no one's watching. Here –" I stood a few feet away from the barrier, looked around quickly, and ran at the barrier, going through to the other side where platform nine and three quarters materialized.

Lissy came through soon afterwards, her eyes had been shut tightly and when she opened them her mouth went open.

We waited while everyone else came through, standing underneath a wide balcony out of the rain.

"Melody –" Lissy started to say, warning in her voice.

Arms suddenly wrapped around my waist and spun me around in a circle. I gave a freaked out shriek, surprised my Sight didn't warn me, but when I heard the laughing I laughed too. "_Marcus_!"

He put me down. I turned to look at him. He had coarse black hair, was quite tall, was relatively muscular, and had large teeth. Some people seemed to believe he had troll blood in him but in any other thoughts he was quite handsome.

"It's so good to see you!" I said, stroking his cheek.

"Two and a half months without you is _way_ to long," he moaned, bending down and kissing me on the lips.

"Uh... ugh," I heard Lissy groan.

Marcus and I laughed.

"We should postpone it for a bit," I said with a chuckle, moving away from him to suddenly see Jim at my side. "Uh... oh! Um, Jim, this is Marcus, my boyfriend, Marcus this is Jim... my stepdad... Oh and Lissy...! Introductions are over with..." _Melody, you **fail** at introducing people..._

Lissy giggled and Marcus gave Jim a curt nod... thank goodness I'd told Jim earlier about Muggle status with my friends, otherwise he'd have held his hand out for Marcus to shake.

Marcus and Draco already knew I had an American stepdad, so they both knew this was him.

Mom came over then with Blake in her arm, and Gerald with Nick at his side. They bade me farewell as Draco and Becky came over to us – bickering once more. "This reminds me of our first year at Hogwarts," I told them. "The first time I ever saw you two together, you bickered... if I recall it was about first-years not being allowed broomsticks."

Vincent and Greg were with Draco, they and Marcus helped Lissy and I get our trunks into our compartment. I waved goodbye to my family and went into the train – our compartment being on the other side away from the waving families. Anyways, we wouldn't have been able to see them through the rain on the windows.

In the compartment; Vincent, Greg, Becky, and Lissy were on one side while Draco, Marcus, and I were on the other – in order from one side to whoever was next to the window. We left the door open for a reason I didn't know why but didn't really care to know anyways.

Draco was telling everyone about how Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were coming to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. I didn't really listen to it, since he'd told me before, until he came up to the part he _hadn't_ told me. "... Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man's such a Mudblood-lover –" Becky and I kicked him in the shins rather hard, so after a pained pause he continued. "– and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually _learn_ them, not just the defense rubbish we do..."

_Under 'Alastor Moody' we will,_ I thought wryly.

"What's a Mu –" Lissy started to ask, having not entirely listened to what he said but noticing what he said when we kicked him.

"Shh! Don't say it..." Becky said softly.

"It's a really _foul_ name for someone who's Muggle-born," I told her. The boys knew our discomfort with the word but sometimes lost their state of mind.

"Oh..." she said softly.

"So, Draco..." Becky said, rather mischievously. Draco buried his face in his hands and Lissy looked to see what was going to happen, I winked at her. "I was wondering... what do you have against _trees_, I daresay? Just what did that one tree do to you to deserve such a fate?"

He looked up from his hands to scowl at her and me, Lissy laughed uncontrollably. "_Melody_! _Why_ did you tell her?" Even Marcus couldn't control his laughter... Vincent and Greg didn't know what was going on – as always.

"I thought we could all do with a laugh on this train rid – come on, admit it, it was kind of funny that your wand just hit an _unexpecting tree_..." I said.

He dropped his head into his hands again and then suddenly sat up straight to look at me again. "Did it make the newspaper?" he asked.

"Did what make the newspaper?" I asked.

"When you fixed up Krum's nose after the World Cup, of course!" he said.

"You did _what_?" Marcus and Becky asked at the same time. Marcus was in pure excitement and Becky was just confused – she didn't know any infamous Quidditch teams.

"The Bulgarian Seeker nose was broken after Bludger smacked him in the face and Draco got him to trust me to fix it up. I doubt it was in there – I never looked for it... Here, Draco give me your Viktor Krum model... are you going to use it?" I said.

Draco shrugged, taking out the Viktor Krum model and holding it out to me on his hand. The model walked to the edge of his fingers and onto my outstretched hand. "It got boring after a while."

"Then here, Lissy take out your Firebolt – and after the demonstration both models are yours."

Lissy handed me the Firebolt model, and I placed it in the same palm as Viktor Krum. When he saw it, he grabbed it and actually flew around the compartment with the same agility as the real Viktor Krum. I wanted to give her both of the models for her benefit considering her wand was attracted to witches and wizards who were natural fliers. She in fact looked at it dreamily.

"Viktor Krum is Bulgarian – and I believe he'll be at Hogwarts this year because of the Tournament, as Draco said, from Durmstrang." I said.

Lissy smiled.

Later on in the day, the compartment across the hall opened and there was chattering. Harry, Ron, and Hermione apparently occupied it, and visiting them were their fellow Gryffindors Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom. Ron had apparently gotten a model of Viktor Krum too, and as he showed it to Neville – who'd missed the World Cup – Draco, Vincent and Greg stood and went over across the hall.

"We saw him right up close, as well," Ron said. "We were in the Top Box –"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley," Draco drawled.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said coolly.

I stood and closed the compartment door, shaking my head. We had all gotten into our Hogwarts robes earlier so we wouldn't have to worry about it, so I guessed that those three wouldn't be back anytime soon.

When the Hogwarts Express finally slowed down, it was pitch-dark outside. I duplicated my umbrella so everyone would have one, except Marcus shared with me.

We went outside to be caught in a downpour of rain and wished Lissy good luck.

While we found a carriage for all of us, it was a tradition for first-years to reach the castle by sailing across the lake with Professor Rubeus Hagrid who was the Gamekeeper of the Hogwarts grounds and our Care of Magical Creature's teacher – an extra class upon many we had to choose. Most Slytherins chose Care of Magical Creature's – which Becky and I did – but we were the odd ones out again when we were the only Slytherins who chose to study Ancient Runes.

We climbed into a carriage with sighs of relief – all carriages were being pulled by thestrals, but only those who had seen deaths could see them. To anyone else they were invisible, and I was one of the few people that saw them.

_We made our way to the castle, excited to get inside and be dry – probably about to be the only dry ones of the school._


	11. Chapter 11

When our carriage stopped in front of the stone steps leading up to the castle, we gradually got out to make our way in. Indeed we were the only ones with umbrellas as people ran in for shelter from the rain. There was commotion with Peeves throwing waterballoons at people, in which he didn't see me so he was 'safe.' He'd been afraid of me since day one.

In the torch-lit entrance hall, the marble staircase nearby, we all breathed a sigh of relief. I took their umbrellas and they disappeared, having only been duplicates, and I transporte my umbrella to my room as we were going back to our same ones.

We went into the Great Hall and sat down together at the Slytherin table, the only parts of us that were wet were our shoes after walking through puddles. The Hall was looking as good as always, the four long tables for each of the Houses, with golden plates and goblets gleaming on them from the hundred – maybe thousands – of candles floating over them in midair. The Sorting of the new students was to happen once they got here – as per tradition – and only after that would we get an announcement from Professor Dumbledore and the food to eat.

"I'm starving," Draco complained. "They'd better hurry up!"

Becky mumbled something.

"What?" Draco asked.

"I _said_, if you want to eat, eat the goblets and plates. You ate a whole bunch of candy on the train that was as hard to chew as these would be," Becky said.

"_No_," he said, "no they weren't!"

"Becky, now would not be the time to make fun of Draco on how hungry he is," I said.

"Right, we're _all_ hungry," Marcus agreed.

Becky gave a little playful smile, "Think I don't know that? I just believe that you shouldn't have so much candy on the train before we get here. Did you know it only makes you hungrier? My dad learned that, and told Joey and I so we would know."

"Wait..." I said in realization. "Doesn't your sister start Hogwarts this year?"

She nodded, "Don't worry, she sat with Joey on the train." Joey was Becky's older brother. "In any case, she'll be in Ravenclaw like the rest of our family."

"How would you know that for sure?" I asked, Seeing clearly in my mind Trixy coming to our table.

"Well, I'm the odd one, aren't I?"

"But... I seem to recall you and Joey agreeing – for once in your life – that Trixy was evil and got you both in trouble while somehow keeping herself out of it?"

"Oh, I remember that!" Draco said. "Yeah, and I met Trixy that time when dad was convincing your parents to let you go to Hogsmeade! She seemed to get very disappointed when you were finally allowed to go."

Marcus snorted.

"Well, she'll go into Ravenclaw for that – it doesn't make her cunning. She's otherwise a very sweet person!"

I shrugged, "All right then. I won't get into it."

Just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened and everyone became silent. Professor McGonagall led the first years up to the front of the Hall. The first years were so drenched in rainwater that they looked as if they had to swim across the lake rather than boat across. The only really dry ones were Lissy and – surprisingly – Trixy. The two of them stood together and I shared a look with Becky.

Trixy looked much like Becky except for the strange difference that her hair was such a dark brown it looked to be black. Otherwise it was the same – short and curly.

The smallest of the first years was wearing Professor Hagrid's moleskin coat. He must have really fallen into the lake.

They reached the front of the Great Hall and Professor McGonagall placed the familiar three-legged stool on the ground and put the old Sorting Hat on top of it. Everyone stared at it in silence, and then the tear near the brim opened like a mouth. The hat broke into song.

_A thousand years or more ago,_

_When I was newly sewn,_

_There lived four wizards of renown,_

_Whose names are still well know:_

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

_They hatched a daring plan_

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began._

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own house, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach._

_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

_Prized far beyond the rest;_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best;_

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission;_

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition._

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng,_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone?_

_'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead!_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,_

_I've never yet been wrong,_

_I'll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell where you belong!_

The Great Hall rang with applause when the Sorting Hat finished its song. It was different every year, but always about the different Houses for the sake of the incoming first years.

Professor McGonagall unrolled a large scroll of parchment when the applause was finished. "When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she said to the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, trembling, put the Sorting Hat on his head and sat on the stool.

"_Ravenclaw_!" the hat shouted.

The Ravenclaw table was applauding him as he quickly ran over and sat down at the table.

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

"_Slytherin!_"

The Slytherin table erupted with cheers. Draco clapped quite enthusiastically as Malcolm joined our table – he was always happy with whoever joined us.

"Branstone, Eleanour!"

"_Hufflepuff_!"

"Cauldwell, Owen!"

"_Hufflepuff!_"

"Creevey, Dennis!"

The smallest boy of the group with Professor Hagrid's moleskin coat on staggered forward. Only then did I realize this was Colin Creevey's little brother. Colin was one of the students I tutored the year before. He and the three other students I tutored – the soon-to-be second year Anthony Otterburn, and the other two soon-to-be third year students, like Colin Creevey; Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. I supposed they probably didn't need me this year – however, Draco and Marcus certainly did.

"_Gryffindor!_" the hat shouted.

The sorting continued with the many frightened first years coming up to put the hat on.

Then - "Figsund, Trixy!"

Trixy went up and sat on the stool without so much as a look of fright or tension on her face. She put the hat on and sat there waiting for it to decide. The hat seemed to be having a difficult time placing her as it took three minutes before it finally shouted out, "_Slytherin!_"

Becky's mouth dropped open; Draco, Marcus, and I snickered. Trixy took off the hat and bounded toward the Slytherin table, dropping into a seat between Becky and I.

The hat continued as Becky stared at Trixy. "Oh... Joey looks like he's going to have a fit."

We turned to look at her brother Joey, his mouth dropped open as well but rather than give a smirk like he gave when Becky was sorted into Slytherin he just continued looking shocked.

Trixy looked as if she'd accomplished her biggest feat yet and talked to us as if she'd been at this table with us for years. "I hope the sorting ends soon, I'm rather starved after Joey made sure I didn't eat any sweets on the train. I don't really think not eating sweets helps me survive until the feast, what about you Becky?"

"I didn't eat any sweets and I'm perfectly fine," Becky grumbled softly.

Trixy just smiled as if Becky had agreed with her. "I can't _wait_ to start the year!"

I laughed uncontrollably. Draco and Marcus could help themselves either, clutching at their sides.

"Trixy," Draco said. "_Thank_ you for joining the Slytherin table."

Trixy beamed at him.

I supposed he only liked that Trixy was with us because it seemed to make Becky uncomfortable.

I listened in when Professor McGonagall called, "Parker, Lissy!"

Lissy made her way up to the stool, slightly trembling but looking determined, as she placed the hat on her head and sat slowly on the stool.

Shortly after – about ten seconds after – the hat called out, "_Slytherin_!"

I cheered and clapped the hardest out of the Slytherin table as Lissy took off the hat and made her way over to sit in between Trixy and I.

"_A_mazing!" Draco said in surprise, looking at both Trixy and Lissy.

"Pritchard, Graham!"

"_Slytherin!_"

"Quirke, Orla!"

"_Ravenclaw!_"

And it finally ended with, "Whitby, Kevin!"being sorted into "_Hufflepuff!_" Professor McGonagall picked up the stool and the hat and carried them out of the Great Hall.

Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and smiled around at all of us with his arms wide open in a comforting welcome. "I have only two words to say to you. _Tuck in_."

The empty dishes magically filled with food before our eyes and Lissy's mouth dropped open.

Graham Pritchard and Malcom Baddock were sitting near us, closer to Draco in fact, and started to dive at the food in strong hunger. They froze however as our House Ghost, the Bloody Baron, showed up in the food.

"Sorry there, chaps!" he said, floating through the table.

Draco continued eating, much unlike our first feast ever when he was rather afraid of the Bloody Baron – like those two. Lissy watched him in interest but Trixy looked at him in _fascination_.

"Hello, Bloody Baron," I said cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

"Much the same terrible sadness of people having nightmares when they see me," he said, rather seriously, but I could kind of feel the joke behind it.

"Ah, the poor chaps will get over it," I said with a laugh, looking to Trixy. "Looks like here's two new students who don't mind!"

The Bloody Baron nodded to Trixy and Lissy, then moved to different parts of the table.

As dessert came, the ceiling flashed lightning as was probably reminiscent of the storm just outside, the rain still pattering against the glass windows. I took a bowlful of chocolate pudding, loving the choclatey deliciousness. _Man, did I __**really**__ just think that?_

When the food had disappeared, everything having been eaten, Professor Dumbledore stood up again. Everyone stopped talking almost all at once, leaving the pounding rain and howling wind to break the silence. "So!" Professor Dumbledore said, smiling around at all of us. "Now that we are all fed and water, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"_Excuse me_?" Marcus and Draco gasped at the same time, completely dumstruck.

Professor Dumbledore continued. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts –"

A deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banging open cut Professor Dumbledore off.

'Alastor Moody' stood in the door way and he proceeded to walk through the hall with every _clunk_ of the wooden leg. He reached Professor Dumbledore and stretched out a hand that Professor Dumbledore shook, muttering an inquiry to him. 'Moody' shook his head and replied in a soft undertone, in which Professor Dumbledore nodded and gestured for the man to sit in an empty seat on his right-hand side.

As he sat down, he smelled his food – as if making sure it wasn't poisoned – speared a sausage with a knife and began eating. Exactly as the real Alastor Moody would have done it, I suppose.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Professor Dumbledore said brightly. "Professor Moody."

"_Mad-Eye Moody?_" Draco asked in surprise. "_The retired Auror?_"

"I suppose we _will_ be learning more than just _defense_ this year," I informed him.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, "As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're _joking!_" Fred Weasley said loudly.

Nearly everyone laughed at this, even Professor Dumbledore chuckled.

"I am _not_ joking, Mr. Weasley, though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar..."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er – but maybe this is not the time... no..." Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament... well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope that those who _do_ know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities – until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The head of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard up, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

Marcus and Draco looked as though they were imagining being the glorious victors of the Triwizard tournament as other students whispered excitedly to each other. Professor Dumbledore continued, bringing silence upon the Great Hall once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age – that is to say, seventeen years or older – will be allowed to put forth their names for consideration. This –" he raised his voice slightly as several people made noises of outrage at this... Marcus looked smug, as he was eighteen, "– is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly likely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Professor Dumbledore sat down to talk to Moody, and when I searched the table for Professor Snape I waved to him. Usually he was one to want to talk to me, before or after the feast. I caught his eye. He was sallow-faced, hook-nosed, and with greasy black hair – the Potions Master and Slytherin's Head of House.

He shook his head and mouthed, _go._ I supposed it meant go to bed, so as the first years followed the prefect I went when my friends were ready to go. We left to go to the Slytherin Common Room, said the password, and came into our home away from home. Becky and I bid Marcus and Draco good night and went up into our room, got dressed in pajamas, and collapsed onto our beds for a night of comfortable sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning it was as if there had been no storm the night before, but the ceiling in the Great Hall still showed us that it was quite gloomy outside. Professor Snape handed us our schedules and we consulted them.

"I will talk to you after your afternoon class to discuss your tutoring schedule," Professor Snape said shortly, swooping away with his cloak flowing behind him.

"Tutoring?" Lissy asked me.

"I'm in a tutoring program –" I started to say.

"She the tutor," Draco said. "She already knows more than a _seventh_ year student –"

"She's the best student in Slytherin House – possibly better than any Ravenclaw, too," Becky added knowingly.

I sighed in frustration, "Just listen to them, then."

Becky giggled, "She's going to take her O.W.L.s this year too... and those are supposed to be for fifth year students." Both Lissy and Trixy looked at me in awe. "She'll be ending school earlier than anyone else. She's _amazing_ and _brilliant_, that's what she is."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not _amazing_... now it looks like this morning we have Transfiguration, then Care of Magical Creature's and after lunch Becky and I go to Arithmancy... for a _double_ period. Huh."

Mail came in, Draco's eagle owl landed on his shoulder carrying his usual supply of sweets and cakes. His parents were over-generous with him, Becky and I nodded at each other as though to agree on this thought.

"Will you _ever_ share those?" Becky asked.

He looked at her as if she was some strange entity, "_No_."

I snorted.

"You have enough to feed us some," Marcus said, catching on, a large smile on his face. "If not to your closest friends, then how about to these young first years here?"

Lissy and Trixy gave Draco puppy eyes.

Becky and I giggled uncontrollably at Draco's look of horror.

For Transfiguration that morning, Professor McGonagall had us turn a hedgehog into a pincushion. I as always was the first to transform mine perfectly, earning Slytherin ten points, and helped Becky and Draco to get theirs done.

In Care of Magical Creatures, we were outside Professor Hagrid's hut as usual and there were several open wooden crates at his feet, his enormous black boarhound, Fang, whimpering and straining at his collar to go take a look at them. The crates were emitting a strang rattling noise, and as we drew nearer it was punctuated by minor explosions.

The Gryffindors were already there when we got there, and we heard Professor Hagrid say, "On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

My Sight showed me what we were learning that day, and I had already told Draco and Becky that we were to care for Blast-Ended Skrewts... they looked like a mixture of scorpions and crabs when they grew up, but since they were just hatched they looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters. Pale and slimy looking.

"And why would we _want_ to raise them?" Draco asked coldly. Vincent and Greg chuckled appreciatively.

Professor Hagrid looked stumped.

"I mean, what do they _do?_" he asked. "What is the _point_ of them?"

Professor Hagrid opened his mouth, thinking hard, and after a few seconds' pause he said, "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things – I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer – I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake – just try 'em out with a bit of each."

I looked around to make sure Professor Hagrid wasn't watching before I took out my wand and used the levitating charm to lower frog livers and ant eggs into the crates. The whole thing seemed pointless due to the fact that there was no knowing where the mouth was.

"_Ouch!_" Dean Thomas, a Gryffindor, yelled after about ten minutes. "It got me!"

Professor Hagrid hurried over to him with an anxious look on his face.

"It's end exploded!" he said angrily, showing the burn on his hand.

Professor Hagrid nodded, "Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off."

A Gryffindor girl by the name of Lavender Brown said, "Eurgh! Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

Professor Hagrid was enthusiastic. "Ah, some of 'em have got stings." Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box. "I reckon they're the males... The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies... I think they might be ter suck blood."

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," Draco said sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

Becky and I giggled softly. He _had_ a point.

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

We left to go lunch, with Draco complaining nonstop about the screwts.

"He's such an _oaf_, take care of the screwts? In no way is this ever going to be a good class with _him_ teaching it!"

"He knows better than anyone about magical creatures," I said as we took our seats, taking care to be far away from Draco. "We could've had better creatures, but because of _you_ – yes, you Draco – we won't be getting _any_ interesting creatures. Our first day ever of that class last year was _perfect _with the hippogriffs, but because you were an idiot we've gotten flobberworms and now Blast-Ended Skrewts."

Before he could protested, Becky said, "I'd have to agree with her, Draco. We could've had so much better if you'd just _kept your mouth __**shut **_and not _insulted _the hippogriff."

"I thought we were going to forget that?" he asked.

"We will if you don't complain with the way our classes are now," Becky said, a smile tugging at her face.

"You can't go a _minute_ without smiling, can you?" I said humorously.

"S'pose not," she replied.

In Ancient Runes we pored over our _Rune Dictionaries_, looking at all the runes and what letters they corresponded with.

"It's like a whole new language," Professor Babbling was saying. "Or a secret code."

"I'd like to write with this in secret notes, then most people don't know what we're saying," Becky mumbled to Hermione and I. I snorted with laughter.

"Genius..." I muttered.

As Professor Babbling went over the runes – which the three of us had already read over the summer – Hermione whispered to us.

"I've been in the library working on creating a society to help house-elf enslavement..."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"I've been trying to create a name for it, but Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status wouldn't fit the badges I have," Hermione said. "I just need a shorter name so the acronym fits."

"I'll join," Becky said happily.

Hermione glowed happily.

"Wait, wait, Hermione are you serious?" I asked, remembering what happened with Winky the house-elf. How is it I was with them just by falling asleep? Was I following Hermione? Was I following Ron? Or was I following Harry?

"_Very_ serious, Melody," Hermione said. "Surely, you know –"

"I have Draco as a friend – I can understand the want for making sure house-elves aren't so thoroughly punished as he did to his old one," I said, remembering Dobby. Then I said, in a low whisper so only the two of them could hear, "I just suppose I didn't think you would do anything to help them... I... I thought it was a dream..."

"Thought what was a dream?" Hermione asked.

I told her and Becky about how I'd fallen asleep after she, Ron, and Harry had left Draco and I. That somehow I'd been following them around – but I kept out the part of being around Barty in the darkness, said that I didn't see him either.

"That's weird," she said, looking thoughtful. It certainly got her mind off of house-elves. "I'm curious about that..."

"Professor Trelawney told me last year she saw the Inner Eye in me and I've been Seeing things ever since... Becky, I even knew that Trixy was going to be in Slytherin, otherwise I wouldn't have brought her up in conversation."

Becky's mouth dropped open. "What do you see now?"

"It comes when it wants," I mumbledm then – "wait... Draco has been transfigured into a ferret."

She burst into laughter and Hermione's lips tightened.

"Oh, Melody, don't joke with us," she said, standing up as the bell rang.

"I wasn't lying," I informed Becky as we left the classroom only to be stopped in the hallway by Draco about five minutes later. He looked excited.

"Read this!" he said, thrusting a newspaper in our faces.

**FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles

are not yet at an end, _writes Rita Skeeter, Special_

_Correspondent._ Recently under fire for its poor

crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and

still unable to account for the disappearance of one

of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh

embarassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold

Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office

"They didn't get his name right," Draco said joyously as I asked, "_Arnold_?" _**Oh**__, so they're talking about __**Arthur**__ Weasley... okay I get it now._

Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession

of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved

in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers

("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive

dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to

the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror

who retired from the Ministry when no longer able

to tell the difference between a handshake and at-

tempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley

found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily

guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again

raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to

modify several memories before he could escape

from the policemen, but refused to answer _Daily_

_Prophet_ questions about why he had involved the

Ministry in such an undignified and potentially

embarassing scene.

We had walked as we read it and had just reached the entrance hall. Draco grabbed it out of our hands to our surprise, but at leas we had read the whole thing.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!" Draco called out, Ron turning around, Harry and Hermione as well.

"What?" Ron said shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" he said, speaking very loudly so the whole hall could hear. "Listen to this!" and he proceeded to read the paper. In the middle of it he stopped to say, "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as thought he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" Then he continued until it was finished. "And there's a picture, Weasley!" he said, flipping the paper over and holding it up to their faces. "A picture of your parents outside their house – if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Becky and I rolled our eyes at each other. He was being stupid again.

Ron shook with fury.

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," Harry said, and mumbled something to Ron.

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter," Draco sneered. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture."

Harry and Hermione had to grab the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Draco. Harry said, "You know _your_ mother, Malfoy? That expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always had that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Becky and I put our _fists_ in our mouths to keep from laughing.

Draco's face went slightly pink, "Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," Harry said, turning away from him.

Draco took his wand out and _bang!_ The spell he cast at Harry had just missed his head. Several people screamed, and Harry plunged his own hand into his robes for his wand until we all heard a second _bang_ sound.

"_Oh no you don't, laddie!_" a voice roared, reverberating around the entrance hall. 'Professor Moody' was limping down the marble staircase, his wand pointed at a pure white ferret on the floor – which shivered on the stone-flagged floor and was exactly where Draco had been. Vincent and Greg looked at him in pure terror, Becky and I just kept our fists in our mouths.

There was a terrified silence that Becky and I didn't take part in, only trying our hardest not to laugh. I looked to Hermione who was shocked – perhaps even more so at my great prediction.

'Professor Moody' said something to Harry and as Vincent bent down to pick Draco up, he shouted, "_Leave it!_"

"Leave – what?" Harry said in bewilderment.

"Not you – him!" he growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Vincent, who'd just frozen. The fake eye really _was_ magical.

"Now there's the truth of seeing things at the back of your head right in this scene here," I said in a mumble to Becky.

'Professor Moody' limped toward the three of them, Draco giving a terrified squeak and running away toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" 'Professor Moody' roared, pointing his wand at Draco – who flew ten feet into the air, and fell to the floor with a smack. He bounced upward once more. "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," he growled, bouncing Draco higher and higher. Draco squealed in pain, and Becky and I looked to each other in shock now. He was _hurting him!_ But there was nothing to do, he was the teacher... "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

"Professor –!" I started to say. He stabbed a look at me, as if to say _no_, and turned back to Draco.

"Never – do – that – again –" he said, speaking each word as Draco hit the stone floor and bounced upward once again.

"Professor Moody!" a shocked voice said. It was Professor McGonagall coming down the marble staircase carrying an armful of books. Becky and I calmed down instantly. She had sense and would bring order.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," he said calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What – what are you doing?" she asked, watching Draco with her eyes.

"Teaching," he said.

"Teach – Moody, _is that a student?_" she shrieked, dropping her books.

"Yep."

"No!" she cried, running down the stairs and pulling her wand out. Not a moment later, Draco had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blonde hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He winced as he got to his feet. He was embarassed, that was certain.

"Moody, we _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment!" Professor McGonagall said weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," 'Professor Moody' said, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock –"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then" he said, looking at Draco with great dislike.

Draco's eyes still watered with pain and humiliation as he looked up at 'Professor Moody' and said, "Wait until my father hears about this."

"Oh yeah?" 'Professor Moody' said quietly, limping toward him. "Well, I know your father of old, boy... You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son... you tell him that from me... Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," Draco said resentfully.

"Another old friend," he growled. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape... Come on, you..." he seized Draco's upper arm and marched off towards the dungeons, stopping to call out, "Miss Riddle, you too!"

"Wha – why?" I asked in shock.

He beckoned me over, "For trying to stop my punishment of this filth!"

I rolled my eyes, and whispered to Becky, "Save us some food." I caught up with him and he led us through the dungeons to Professor Snape's office. "Are you all right?" I asked Draco worriedly.

He nodded with a shiver, "I'll – I'll be okay."

I looked up to 'Professor Moody'. "I thought Professor McGonagall told you transfiguring students wasn't an option, why punish me when I was trying to stop you from hurting him?"

He glared down at me, "You tried to stop me when it was a punishment... you _will_ be punished."

I sighed in exasperation, "Well, I had to go see him before dinner anyways..."

"In trouble?"

"_No_," I said, with a glance at Draco who winced with every step. "I have to figure out my tutoring schedule this year."

"I thought you were doing good in your classes," he remarked.

"_I'm the tutor!_" I said.

"Oh... nice..." he said. He barged into Professor Snape's office. Professor Snape actually jumped when he saw 'Professor Moody'.

"What do you want?" Professor Snape asked.

"I want to talk about detentions for these two students," he said, grabbing the collars of our robes and yanking us in front of him.

Professor Snape's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you sure this isn't one of your psychotic breakdowns, Moody? These are my best students."

"Of course you'd treasure your Slytherin students," 'Professor Moody' said with a wicked grin. "But _this_ one," he yanked me back, pushing Draco forward so he would know he was talking about him, "tried to curse a student with his back turned. While I gave him punishment, _this_ one," he switched our places so I was now in front, "tried to stop me."

"I will deal with them on my own, Moody, thank you," Professor Snape said coldly.

"I can't wait to talk to you again, Snape... always a pleasure," 'Professor Moody' said before limping out of the room.

Draco relaxed slightly, and I gently led him over to sit in a chair.

"What happened?" Professor Snape asked.

"Okay, so I tried to curse Potter..." Draco said softly, as though deciding he would have his punishment whether he liked it or not.

"But it wasn't fair what Professor Moody did!" I said. "He transfigured Draco into a ferret and bounced him around... he's in terrible pain now and after that ordeal I worry about Professor Moody's sanity. I tried to stop him when I realized it wasn't a valid punishment but –"

"He stopped you..." Professor Snape finished for me. He sighed, "You two won't be punished, I will deal with Moody. Malfoy, let me get you something to help with the pain."

"Thank you, Professor," Draco said softly... weakly.

"He let's his work as an Auror interfere with his everyday life, Dumbledore should have foreseen that this could happen," Professor Snape said, handing Draco a potion. Draco drank it and sat up straight in his seat with a smile. "You may go have dinner, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape said, then looking up at me as Draco left. "I needed to talk to you anyways." He waved his wand and his office door closed.

I sat down where Draco had been. "Do you think I need to keep my students from last year?"

"I think the only ones you should keep are Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Flint. The other students you gained last year have been doing well for their first day of classes without problems – I have asked the other teachers." He moved piles of papers from one side to the next and looked at me in the eye. "Is there anyone else you would like to help?"

"How have Lissy Parker and Trixy Figsund been doing?" I asked.

"Miss Figsund has been doing perfectly – like her sister – and Miss Parker has been having trouble adjusting," he said, then looked thoughtful. "How do you know Miss Parker?"

I told him about that day at Madam Malkin's and about how I'd been asking about adoption.

He smirked, "You want to adopt her?"

I rolled my eyes, "You're just like Gerald. He thought it was _hilarious_ and that I wanted hundreds more children around the house!"

"Aren't your brothers enough?" he asked, humor in his eyes.

"Severus, it's not for _my_ sake, it's for _hers_, it's that woman – wait, brothers? How did you know my brother from America came?" I asked. He and I decided the year before that – in secret, of course – we would talk to each other on a first name basic.

"Your mother sends me letters," he said.

"She's not falling in love with _you_ is she?" I asked in horror.

He laughed. _Whoa, he __**laughed**__! _Shaking his head, he said, "We're just friends, Melody... you have enough stepfathers to think about and you know I'm not the fraternizing sort."

I giggled, "Bummer."

It was now his turn to roll his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

There were no more big incidents after Draco's punishing performance as the bouncing ferret, unless that counted wednesday morning's double Potions lesson with Professor Snape when Neville mlted his sixth cauldron. Professor Snape gave him detention for it, seemingly gaining a new level of bullying the poor boy.

After lunch that day we made our way to Defense Against the Dark Arts for our first lesson with 'Professor Moody'. Draco was not looking forward to it.

When we got there, Draco had us sit in the very back row so he didn't have to be so close to 'Professor Moody' again. Becky tried to console him, saying that he couldn't transform him into a ferret again, but Draco couldn't be dissuaded.

I just couldn't wait to see how he would teach us. What had the real Alastor Moody said he was going to do?

We all took out our books when 'Professor Moody' came in and growled, "You won't need those books."

It looked like we would start out the year with a practical lesson again.

Returning the books to our bags, 'Professor Moody' took out a register and called out names. His normal eye moved steadily down the list while his magical eye swivelled at whoever said "Here!" He practically growled through gritted teeth as he said Draco's name.

After the last person declared themself present, he said, "Right then, I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures – you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

Everyone nodded.

"But you're behind – very behind – on dealing with curses. So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark magic, instead of with cute little creatures."

Becky and I gave small chuckles of laughter, hiding behind the students in front of us so he couldn't see.

"Curses!" he said loudly, as if to cover up our laughter.. if he heard us. "They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to _put that away,_ Miss Parkinson and Miss Bulstrode, while I'm talking."

Pansy jumped and looked at him in defiance. She'd just been writing notes to Millicent and had been handing it to her as he talked.

"Shall I read it to the entire class or will you put it away?" he asked with a smug grin.

"No, _Professor_," Millicent said, pocketing it in her robes.

"So..." 'Professor Moody' continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

No one raised their hands.

"My, my, what a pity... surely your parents told you of such spells?" he said, his magical eye looking between Draco and I. "Or, perhaps you don't feel like sharing you knowledge? Miss Riddle!" He pointed at me.

"The Imperius Curse," I said. "Control of the mind."

He smiled, "Ah, yes. _That_ one gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time." I couldn't help but realize that he meant during the time my dad was at power. He heavily got up to his feet, opened up his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar with four large black spiders in it.

When thinking about what he was going to do, I realized the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw fourth years already had this class – since he was going to show us all three Unforgivable Curses.

'Professor Moody' reached into the jar, catching one of the spiders, and took it out. Holding it in the palm of his hand so we could all see it, he pointed his wand at it and muttered, "_Imperio!_"

The spider leapt from his hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing perfectly on its feet on the desk where it instantly started cartwheeling around in circles. With a jerk of his wand, the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into an unmistakeable tap dance.

Everyone laughed – except 'Professor Moody' who _had_ been under it for the longest time.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away instantly, but I had to hold my hand to my mouth to stop my laughter. He wouldn't be able to put me under it if he tried.

"Total control," 'Professor Moody' said quietly and the spider curled into a ball and started rolling everywhere. "I could make it jump out the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..."

Draco's face whitened.

"Years back, there were a lot of withes and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.

"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. _Constant vigilance!_"

Everyone jumped.

_He's doing a very good job playing the part of the mad man who had to go after Dark wizards in his younger days,_ I thought.

He picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Miss Riddle, another illegal curse," he said, looking at me pointedly.

"The Cruciatus Curse," I said. "The torturing curse."

'Professor Moody' nodded and reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it on his desktop. It remained motionless... too scared to move. "The Cruciatus Curse," he said. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he now pointed his wand at the spider. "_Engorgio!_"

The spider swelled, now larger than any tarantula I'd ever seen.

'Professor Moody' raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "_Crucio!_"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horrible, rocking from side to side as if trying to get the invisible torturer off of it. I watched it, knowing that though it made no noise, if it were human it would be screaming right now. When the spider started to shudder and jerk more and more violently, he stopped his tormenting. When he stopped, the spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch uncontrollably.

I looked at Becky who was horrified. Draco just sat there with an unreadable expression on his face. I didn't dare look into anyone's mind to see what they were thinking – these were Slytherins, who knew what they felt?

"_Reducio,_" 'Professor Moody' muttered, and the spider shrank back down. He put it back into the jar.

"Pain," he said softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse... That one was very popular once too.

"Right... Miss Riddle, any others?"

"_Avada Kedavra_," I said, "the Killing Curse."

He gave a slight smile, "Yes, the last and worst."

'Professor Moody' put his hand into the glass jar, and it was almost as if they knew what was coming, the last two spiders scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar to try evading his fingers. But it was to no avail when he trapped one and put it on his desktop where it started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.

He raised his wand and roared, "_Avada Kedavra!_"

There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound – instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakeably dead.

'Professor Moody' swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.

"Not nice," he said rather calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it."

Draco gave an uncontrollable snort.

A slight pause, and 'Professor Moody' continued. "_Avada Kedavra's_ a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it – you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it.

"Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? _Because you've got to know._ You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. _Constant vigilance_!" he roared, making the whole class jump once more.

He continued, "Now... those three curses – _Avada Kedavra_, Imperius, and Cruciatus – are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice _constant_, _never-ceasing vigilance_. Get out your quills... copy this down..."

We spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke again until the bell rang, but when it did 'Professor Moody' wanted to talk to Draco and I.

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Riddle! Stay after class with me! I want to talk to you!"

Becky promised to wait outside while we stayed behind with 'Professor Moody'.

"I'd like to know if you were punished at all by your _Professor_ _Snape_," he said, looking both of us in the eyes.

We shook our heads.

He growled. "I've noticed how _soft_ he is on his Slytherin students. He certainly puts you two on pedestals, though, doesn't he?'

Draco glowered at him.

Before 'Professor Moody' could say anything, I butt in. "You already gave Draco his punishment you know... that was sufficiently painful and he'll never curse anyone again now."

Draco nodded.

"All right," he said, "fine then, Mr. Malfoy, get out of my sight!"

"What about Melody?" he asked.

"I am going to deal with her now!" he said loudly, and Draco scurried out of the room. With a wave of his wand, 'Professor Moody' closed the door, locked it, and I suppose cast a charm on the room so they couldn't overhear us because he sighed with an insane grin on his face. "You are so not like your father."

I rolled my eyes, "That's the point. No one suspects that I know or have been in _cohoots_ with him."

He chuckled.

"You're not _really_ going to give me a detention, are you?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.

Shaking his head, he said, "No, I just thought we'd pretend it was one to your friends. Late at night on Saturday, you'll say you're going to my classsroom to sort papers – but we'll go to the library and look through the restricted section."

I smiled, "For the Flesh, Blood, and Bone Potion... and I suppose I would need to be invisible so no other teachers would think you're keeping me out of bed?"

He nodded. "If any come I'd just say you're in my office, locked in, and that no one should bother you while I enjoy some time in the restricted section in the library." With an insane smile he sat down with a heaved sigh. "I hate this body."

"How about this job?" I asked. "You're actually a really good teacher."

"And you're a really good student," he remarked. "Would this be your first detention, even if it is fake?"

"Yes," I said with a small laugh. "I'm normally a trouble-free student... so they think."

He smiled, and then waved his hand. "Go on, get out of here. Your friends are probably wondering why I'm keeping you in here for so long."

I went to unlock and open the door, leaving the room to explain my 'detention'.


	14. Chapter 14

That Saturday night, I left the Slytherin Common Room to 'Professor Moody's' classroom where he stood in wait for me. I came in and he looked up from the papers he was looking through on his desk, he nodded and took out two bins of what looked like thousands of paper.

With a wave of his wand, a paper slowly came out, as though an invisible person was looking at it. It was then put in a spot in a box, everything being sorted in alphabetical order.

"Put your Disillusionment Charm on," 'Professor Moody' growled softly.

As I donned the charm, we came out of the classroom and he closed and locked the door. He then clunked his way through the halls with me at his side.

"That's amazing..." he muttered softly. "I can't even see you."

"I suppose it makes sense considering the real Alastor Moody didn't see me either when he can see things at the back of his head... so that eye can mostly see through invisible things?" I asked.

He nodded, "It's the only good thing about being this man."

I chuckled.

In the library, Moody took out a set of keys and unlocked the lock keeping students out, opening the restricted section up. He took a seat off in the corner of the section and his magical eye searched around for where I was.

"Well?" he said. "Get looking."

"Someone's cranky," I noted humorously, taking a book out of a shelf. "It will take all night to look through these I should think – no longer."

"And why is that?"

"We're only looking for a potions book... by the way, did you bring a spare piece of parchment, a bottle of ink and a quill?"

He smiled, taking some stuff out, "Someone didn't come prepared."

"On purpose, everyone knows I have never ending ink and never ending pieces of parchment, and my certain quill has been losing feathers – it has rather rare peacock feathers." I pulled out a potions book and looked through it, skimming the pages, and put it back. I took another book out.

"What are you doing here?" a smooth voice asked.

I slowly turned my head toward Professor Snape, whose eyes flicked from the book I held to 'Professor Moody'. I had to force myself to calm down, he didn't know I was here.

"What, a man can't come for a midnight read?" 'Professor Moody' asked, waving the wand that was already out so the book flew out of my hands to his, opening it up to the first page. While his regular eye looked over the page, his magical eye was fixed on Professor Snape.

"I thought I heard someone else in here," he said, "couldn't make out the voices."

"It was me, I like to talk aloud," 'Professor Moody' said.

Professor Snape crossed his arms and sighed, as though he wanted nothing more than to get out of there rather than talk to 'Professor Moody'. "I went to the Slytherin Common Room to find out that Melody had detention with you... so I went to your office and tried to get in and knock. No one came to the door to open it and I couldn't open it."

"She's to be there until I've grown tired of reading," 'Professor Moody' growled. "The door is locked from the inside and outside so none of her little friends try to save her."

Professor Snape's eyebrow went up, "She stronger than any enchantments you may put to keep her in there."

'Professor Moody' gave a very amused look. "I see... That girl is very unlike her father, you know... I was about to give _Mr. Malfoy_ a detention, and she stopped me because 'I had already given the _poor boy_ punishment.' She's a rather kind one compared with her strong magic – yes, I know how strong she is, I can't even read her mind."

Professor Snape froze. "She doesn't know about her father... she gets her kindness from her mother... And I admire that no matter how strong she is, she doesn't parade it in front of people, giving demonstrations like him."

"So you do know who her father is... I just wondered, given what a striking look alike she is."

I stood frozen against the bookshelf, looking back and forth between the two. _Seriously, Barty, you want to have this conversation **now**?_ I couldn't help myself, though, in knowing Severus actually _admired_ me.

"I must agree with you Snape, she is a rather gifted child but her humility is a surprise compared to the vermin her father used to be."

_Wow, imagine how hard that must have been to call his master 'vermin'._

"Don't you think she's had enough punishment?" Professor Snape, obviously trying to change the subject.

'Professor Moody' chuckled. "Worried about your 'perfect' student?"

"I just don't think she deserves the detention," he said softly. "She was worried for Mr. Malfoy's safety, you can't give her detention for trying to keep you from hurting him."

"Now, now, Snape, what if she were trying to stop me from catching a Dark wizard?" he asked, at which Severus's eyes narrowed angrily. "She needs to know that were Mr. Malfoy a Dark wizard, having almost caught someone with a curse, she would go to Azkaban for trying to stop me from hurting the young man."

"Does she know that _that_ is what you are teaching her?" Severus asked coldly.

"I told her before I locked her in to file some things and came here."

Severus turned and quickly hurried out of the library.

Once he was way out of earshot I whispered, "The things you find out about what someone thinks of you when you're invisible is _incredible_."

Barty chuckled and through the book at me, still not really knowing where I was. It landed a few feet from me.

"Don't throw when you've no clue where I am," I said, walking over and picking it up.

He laughed.

A few hours later I gasped, there the potion was. Barty put the parchment, quill, and ink bottle on the table next to him, and I knelt down next to it, putting the book down to the open page.

The potion requires:

A cauldron large enough for a grown man to sit in

Boiling Water

Magical transfusion from a relative (ex: sibling, son/daughter, parents, etc.)

The three crucial ingredients needed at the time of regeneration:

Bone unknowingly taken from the Dark Wizard's father

Flesh willingly sacrificed from a servant

Blood forcibly extracted from a foe

Words said as the crucial ingredients are added after Dark Wizard's immersion into the potion:

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master!

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will ressurect your foe!"

I showed it to Barty who looked over it with strong interest. I yawned, my eyes drooping as I vaguely wondered how much magic was supposed to be put into it.

"When are we to start?" he asked.

"The potion must be started at least a month before his resurrection... we bring the water to a boil and I'll pour all of my magic in it –"

"_All of it_?" he asked. When I nodded, he grinned.

I rolled my eyes at his surprise, though I, myself, wondered if I should really put that much in. "Do wizards die if they put all of their magic into a transfusion?" I asked.

"Sometimes, but all of it would help your father to be on top again considering you have very strong magic, and your magic will replenish again... it's like blood, you could say. Some is taken away, but it replenishes."

I nodded with relief and said, "Good, I don't think it's really time for my death yet... I'll still live." _But I'll hate myself... maybe I can **say** I put all of my magic in but only put half of it... he wouldn't notice the difference. Wait... I have the ability to love while he doesn't – magic includes my thoughts and feelings, I can keep my thoughts out but put my feelings in and maybe then he can understand feeling... But is it worth the shot?_

"Come on," he said, standing up with a groan and putting the paper in his pocket. "I ought to get you to bed, it's nearly dawn."

I looked out the window, noticing the sun was starting to rise.

"You can worry about the potion later... I'll get us a room and the cauldron for it. In May we'll boil some water in it and you can transfuse your magic. We'll also figure out later on how we'll keep your loss of magic a secret."

"There is a magic replenishing potion I can make..." I said, standing up. "It takes several hours so maybe we could do it on a weekend in May."

He nodded, "And your Apparition lessons will start next weekend... you'll have to come see me when all your friends have fallen asleep and then I'll take us somewhere for practice. How many lessons do you think you'll need?"

"With my luck, _one_," I grumbled.

"You really are too humble – with your magic you'll only need half a lesson."

I chuckled, "I _have_ been excited to learn ever since I was _eleven_."


	15. Chapter 15

October came sooner than we thought, the air crisp and cool, and there were buzzes of strong excitement as the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang drew nearer and nearer.

Draco practically shrieked his excitement about Viktor Krum coming to Hogwarts, thus bringing up Lissy's excitement. From the model of him, she saw how good he was at flying and after her first flying lesson she became a huge fan of Quidditch.

I began tutoring lessons for Draco, Marcus, and Lissy all together in the common room whenever we were free. I found it slightly funny because they were each learning things that were completely different from each other. Marcus would have something terribly complicated, Draco and I had the same lessons so I call it rather moderate, and Lissy's was _so easy_ I could hardly believe that that was all one learned in their first year here!

Our classes had been becoming more difficult as the weeks went by, more difficult and more _demanding_. Particularly with 'Professor Moody' because one day he decided to announce that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us in turn, just to demonstrate its power and see whether we could resist its effects.

Draco practically decided to run out and never come back at the idea, but he was called on first. 'Professor Moody' cleared the desks away with a sweep of his wand to give a lot of space and cast the Imperius Curse on Draco.

He did a number of gymnastics while running around the room, an interesting feat I never thought possible from him. Though, you could do _anything _under the Imperius Curse.

Other classmates were put under the Imperius Curse and did many other amazing things. No one seemed to be able to fight off the curse until 'Professor Moody' had taken it off. Pansy sang – horribly, but sang - the national anthem while bouncing around the room, rubbing her stomach, and patting her head. When he got to Becky, she bent her knees as though to jump, but then she jumped while preventing herself from jumping and fell down to the ground.

"_That's_ more _like it!_" 'Professor Moody' said. "You damn near beat it! I will get back to you to try again, next time, everyone watch Miss Figsund's eyes, that's where you see it. Miss Riddle, your turn!"

I stood in front of him, deciding to see what he would try to make me do before I pushed him out. "_Imperio!_" he muttered.

I was surprised at the blissful feeling I was given, but I still thought mad thoughts to myself as I heard his voice at the back of my mind. He was saying: _Act like a monkey... act like a monkey..._

_Okay, that is the **stupidest** thing ever... no!_ And with ease, I pushed him out. He nearly fell over.

"Damn good job, Miss Riddle! Did everyone look at her eyes?" he asked.

"Really stupid," I muttered to Draco and Becky. "He wanted me to 'act like a monkey',"

They burst into silent laughter.

"I would have _loved_ to see that," Draco said.

For Transfiguration we were given a large load of homework by Professor McGonagall, to which most everyone groaned.

"You are about to enter a most important phase in your magical education!" she said, her eyes glinting at all of us dangerously. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing nearer, you know!"

"But, Professor, we don't take them until next year!" Draco drawled... more of a whine really.

"Indeed, and best to prepare you now... you're lucky we start this early and that it is only next year, because need I remind you that Miss Riddle will take her Ordinary Wizarding Levels this year as part of her tutoring program?"

I looked at my nails to avoid the looks everyone was giving me, as though they were more interesting than my achievements.

For History of Magic with Professor Binns – the only ghost teacher – had us writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century, to which Draco thoroughly bemoaned. Professor Snape had us research antidotes, and we all took it seriously because he hinted that he would possibly poison one of us before Christmas to see if the antidote worked. Professor Flitwick asked us to read three extra books in preparation for our lesson on Summoning Charms.

"Oh, no," I grumbled to myself. "I already _know_ the Summoning Charm, even the Banishing Charm."

"Tell Professor Snape, maybe he'll take you out of class," Becky said. She was joking. _Ugh..._

Even Professor Hagrid added to our workload. The Blast-Ended Screwts had been growing at a remarkable pace considering none of us had figured out what they ate. He was delighted by it, though, and as part of the "project" he suggested that we come to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their "extraordinary" behavior. He had proposed this to us with the air of Father Christmas pulling out an extra-large toy out of his sack.

"I will not," Draco told him flatly. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."

Professor Hagrid's smile faded. "Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he growled, "or I'll be taking a leaf outta Professor Moody's book... I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."

The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Becky and I already had our laughs at him for it, we were out of laughter for that moment having had enough of hearing about it already.

Draco's face flushed angrily, but he didn't dare retort.

The moment we were out of earshot, making our way toward the castle, Draco burst into fits of rage. "How is that still being used against me? Ooh... I would like that oaf and that Auror to be sacked right now!"

"Well, gasp!" Becky said rather sarcastically. "You would dare try to sack the Auror, oh my, how brave!"

She and I laughed. Draco grumbled to himself and rolled his eyes.

Upon our arrival in the entrance hall, we found we were really unable to proceed to the Great Hall, owing to the large crowd of students milled around a large sign that was erected at the foot of the marble staircase.

"Excuse me!" Draco said, making his way through the crowd. With Vincent and Greg at his side, everyone moved out of the way. Becky and I followed.

The sign read:

**TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT**

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND

DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK

ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL

END HALF AN HOUR EARLY.

STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS

TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT

OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE

THE WELCOMING FEAST.

"That's just a week away!" Draco said excitedly.

"Look at that... it is..." I said, looking over it with great interest.

"You wouldn't be thinking of trying for it, would you?" he asked, rather as if it would be a shame _not_ to want to.

"_Heck no_," I said. "Death tolls? I think I've had enough adventure in my life, thank you."

"I might try for it," Marcus said behind us. Draco and Becky jumped.

_I forgot he was seventeen..._ I thought to myself.

Time in the library with Hermione, Fred, George, and Becky was rather strained once we finally got to it. Fred and George didn't really immerse in conversation, talking in soft whispers to each other mostly, and Hermione mostly tried to get us to join S.P.E.W. Her new name for her organization to help house-elves. Even Fred and George agreed with me, though it was short-lived because they went straight back to their suspicious whispers.

"Hermione, I'm telling you, it would be a great injustice to them," I said as Becky put the badge on her robes, sporting it rather proudly having had to pay two Sickles for it. "They live for the work they do for wizarding families. Yes, I can agree they should be treated better – more like family you could say – but to take them out of the work they do for free just won't help them. They love having work to do, and doing this would put them in rather tough spots because they aren't going to get jobs that pay and living with the family that feeds and cares for them while they work for them is all the money they need.

"Now, _what in the world_ are you two _doing_?" I asked Fred and George as Hermione crossed her arms, giving a vexed "Hmph!"

"It's none of your business," Fred said, rather irritated.

Hermione stood up with her copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ under her arm, and left with a mumble of, "Going back to Gryffindor common room."

"Honestly, you two, this is _not_ like you. _What_ are you doing?" I asked.

"Thought it wasn't like you to badger," George said.

"Oh, bloody hell," I groaned. "Either tell me or I'll read your minds, I have half a mind to believe that you're doing something that's bloody darn stupid."

They just stared at me indignantly.

Before I could do anything else, Becky sidled up next to George. "Come on, you can tell us... we won't tell another soul, not even Hermione if it's that dangerous. We just want to know what you two are doing, we're your _friends_ we mean no harm."

I could've laughed to the _ends of the earth_ at the dazed look on George's face.

"George?" Fred asked, pinching his brother's arm.

"Shush, now," Becky said to Fred. "I'm talking to George... so... will you tell us... your _best_ friends?"

Fred looked to me with a confused look on his face, I shrugged with amusement.

"We – We've been trying to talk to Bagman," George said. Fred's eyes widened, and when he tried to say something, Becky threw her hand up in front of his face as if to say 'pause'. "We gambled with him, saying that Ireland would win but Krum would get the Snitch. He gave us leprechaun gold and –"

"And it disappeared," I said softly, in realization. "He cheated you."

Fred gave up trying to keep us from knowing, "We've sent him one letter since then to get him to give us our money. He hasn't even answered us – he'll come to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament, so we'll try to talk to him then."

Becky smiled and went back to her seat next to me across the table from them. George still seemed temporarily speechless.

"Yo!" I said, snapping my fingers.

George seemed to only come _slightly_ out of hypnosis, "Hm?"

"Becky, what did you do to him?" Fred and I asked.

She blinked. As if not knowing what we talking about. "I... I didn't do anything, I just thought that maybe he would be more willing to tell us without Fred on his side. Fred _is_ the controlling twin, so if it was his choice to not say anything, that maybe George would."

I had never noticed anything of the sort between the two myself, they always _seemed_ _equal_.

Fred and I just stared at each other, eyes wide.

Becky giggled, "Stop that, you two look like owls!"

The week passed by quick enough with all the teachers – as well as Argus Filch – acting rather tense, and on the morning of the thirtieth of October we found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. There were enormous silk banners that hung from the walls, each one representing each of the Hogwarts Houses: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table was the largest banner. It bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

We sat down next to Marcus, who looked as though he'd been there for quite some time. He hadn't been on my mind much of late, but he _had_ been rather busy of late – more than I think he should have, though he was to take his N.E.W.T.s this year.

"These decorations are _much_ better than the ones Gilderoy Lockhart had me do for Valentine's Day our second year," I remarked with a smile.

"_You _helped with those," Marcus asked, "mind if I say they were _awful_?"

"Oh, it's no problem, none of what we brought in was really my idea, _I_ hated it. But I certainly did enjoy everyone's horror-stricken faces the next day at breafast," I said reminiscently. "And I never _did_ figure out who sent me that valentine..."

"What did it say?" Marcus asked curiously.

"I don't remember," I said, and when Becky started to open her mouth I added, "and I don't _want_ to remember. Let me guess, you somehow memorized it, Becky?"

She giggled, smiling her well-known smile, and shook her head. "I wrote it down as the dwarf said it. I know you didn't notice, but I thought it would be a good thing to remind you of in the future if it ever came up. Take a look! It did!"

Draco laughed.

"Maybe in the _very distant_ future I'll want to listen to it again... but not now," I said, disgust on my face.

She just smiled, "Okay, then!"

_I love her... but sometimes she is just **too** happy_.

Lissy and Trixy came then, looking excited. "I can't wait until the schools come... I wonder where they'll be sleeping?"

"Wherever they're put," Marcus said, taking a sip of orange juice.

The day went by with pleasant anticipation in the air. The teachers had a hard time getting us to pay attention – not that we didn't notice them looking out the window as if expecting the schools to come early. When the bell rang early, we went down to the dungeons to deposit our bags in our dormitories and grabbed our cloaks since we were going to have to stand outside in wait.

Our Heads of Houses were ordering their students in line.

Professor Snape put the first years in the front and did it in order to the back. "All right, good, now follow me, _no pushing._"

We followed him out and line up in front of the castle. It was a clear evening, but rather cold as dusk fell and the moon shone over the Forbidden Forest. Becky stood in between Draco and I, Vincent and Greg on Draco's other side, in the fourth row. I looked behind me to get a wink from Marcus all the way in the very back seventh row.

In the back row with the other teachers – in between a big gap between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff rows – was Professor Dumbledore, most of the teachers on either side of him, being in the middle. Behind each row of Houses were the Heads of Houses. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were one one side together, Hufflepuff and Slytherin on the other. It was quite a setting, it was organized rather well.

Becky consulted her watch, "It's almost six, they should be getting here soon."

"I wonder what their mode of transportation is," Draco said, his face flushed with excitement and the bitter cold. At least they weren't coming in winter.

"Whatever it is, they'd best get here soon," I said softly.

We looked up at the skies and down on the grounds, anxiously waiting for something to happen, but everything was still. Everyone was rather quiet while standing in wait though I was sure many of them, if we weren't standing out here waiting for the schools, would complain about standing around in the cold. Draco included.

Suddenly, we heard Professor Dumbledore call out, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" many students said eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"_There!_" someone in the sixth row over in the Gryffindors yelled, pointing over the forest.

A large something was flying – rather, hurtling – across the darkening sky toward the castle, growing larger and larger the closer it came.

"It's a dragon!" a first year Hufflepuff shrieked, losing her head completely and very nearly running out of line.

"Don't be stupid... it's a flying house!" the small Gryffindor first year boy, Dennis, said.

Dennis had given a much closer guess. As the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, we realized it was a large – gigantic, really – powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, and it was the size of a large house. It was pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, each one the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage drew lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed. With an almighty crash, the horses' hooves – larger than dinner plates – hit the ground. Then the carriage landed, bouncing on its vast wheels. The horses – I noticed – sported large, fiery eyes.

The door of the carriage bore a coat of arms that was two crossed, golden wand, each one emitting three stars. It opened.

A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward and fumbled with something on the carriage floor, unfolding a set of golden steps, then sprang backward respectfully. The largest woman I had ever seen came out of the carriage – looking much bigger than Professor Hagrid, probably because I didn't really see him around. Quite a few people gasped.

The woman walked into the light of the entrance hall, revealed to have handsome olive-colored skin; large, black, liquid-looking eyes, and a beak-like nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck, and she was dressed from head to foot in black satin, with many magnificent opals gleaming at her throat and on her fingers.

Professor Dumbledore clapped, and we all followed his lead – to Draco's disgruntlement, really. The woman's face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked up to him, extending a glittering hand. Professor Dumbledore _barely_ had to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," Madame Maxime said in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," he said.

"My pupils," she said, waving one of her hands carelessly behind her.

A dozen boys and girls had emerged from the carriage while we all watched Madame Maxime and now stood behind her. They were shivering in their robes made of fine silk, not odd considering they didn't have cloaks.

"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," Professor Dumbledore said. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," she said. "But ze 'orses –"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them, the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other – er -charges."

"Those Blast-Ended Skrewts no doubt," Draco grumbled to us.

"My steeds require – er – forceful 'andling," Madame Maxime said, looking as if she doubted that any Care of Magical Creatures teacher could handle the job. "Zey are very strong..."

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling.

"Very well," she said with a slight bow. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze horses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," Professor Dumbledore said, also bowing.

"Come," Madame Maxime said to her students, and they passed us to go up the stone steps.

We stood, slightly shivering now, waiting for the Durmstrang delegation to arrive. Most people gazed up at the sky. For a long while all we heard was Madame Maxime's horses snorting and stamping impatiently. Then – a loud and very eerie sound was drifting toward us from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking noise.

"The lake!" Gryffindor sixth year – friend to Fred and George – Lee Jordan yelled, pointing down to it. "Look at the lake!"

The usual smooth black surface of the water now showed the formation of great large bubbles, and waves crashed over the muddy banks. Then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared. A long black pole slowly rose out of the whirlpool, then there was the rigging. A maginificent ship rose out of the water then, gleaming in the moonlight. It looked oddly like a resurrected wreck. When it had emerged entirely, it bobbed on the turbulent water and began to glide toward the bank. Then there was the unmistakeable splash of the anchor being thrown into the shallow part of the lake, and the thud of a plank being lowered down to the bank.

We saw the silhouettes of people walking down the plank and making their way up the lawns of the grounds. They drew nearer, looking oddly bulky – like Vincent and Greg, really. As they walked into the light streaming from the entrance hall, I realized they were wearing furry cloaks having come from a colder climate. The man who led them was wearing furs of a different sort – in other words, not matted like his students' – his furs were sleek and silver, much like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called out heartily, walking up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Professor Dumbledore replied.

Once next to Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff was tall and thin like him, though his white hair was short and he had a goatee. He shook Professor Dumbledore's hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," Professor Karkaroff said, looking up at the castle and smiling with rather yellow teeth. I couldn't help but notice that the smile he gave didn't extend to his eyes which were cold and looked quite empty of emotion, really. "How good it is to be here, how good... Viktor, come along, into the warmth... you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."

Professor Karkaroff beckoned forward the actual Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum.


	16. Chapter 16

From behind the Durmstrang students, we all followed in, happy to go back into the warmth of the castle. Many people stood on their tip-toes, jumping up and down, to get a good look at Viktor Krum.

"Everyone's fussing over _one_ Quidditch player?" Becky asked in interest. "Must be good."

"_Good?_" Draco said. "He's _great!_ Best Seeker in the world, and even Melody agrees."

"I'm still not going to another _big_ Quidditch Match," I replied, rubbing my hands together.

We sat down at the Slytherin table, and many other students watched the door apprehensively to see where the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students would sit... Beauxbatons chose seats at the Ravenclaw table, and some held their scarves and shawls around their faces.

"I guess they're not used to cold climates," I said.

"Well, duh," Marcus said, looking over at them.

Durmstrang came over to our table as we looked at the Beauxbatons students, sitting down across from us. Marcus and I were actually so busy in our thoughts we didn't notice until we heard Draco talking.

"How do you like it so far?"

"Oh, please, they _just_ got here!" Becky said.

I looked to Viktor who gave me a curt nod, not answering Draco possibily due to his head cold.

All of the Durmstrang students then took off their heavy furs, revealing deep bloodred robes, and looked around them in interest. Everything seemed to interest them; the starry black ceiling, even the golden plates and goblets. However, the Beauxbatons students had glum expressions, nothing interested them whatsoever.

Once all the students settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the front table to take their seats, last in line Professor Dumbledore, Madame Maxime, and Professor Karkaroff. When Madame Maxime appeared, all the students from Beauxbatons jumped to their feet. A few Hogwarts students laugh, but the Beauxbatons students didn't show a worry or a care and only sat down once Madame Maxime had taken her seat. Dumbledore stayed standing.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most particularly – guests," Professor Dumbledore said, beaming around at all of the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down and the plates filled with food, including some foreign food we'd never seen before.

We ate. It was nothing fascinating, I didn't want to engage in conversation so I let my mind wander. It was when I had a vision of Fred and George with white beards that I snapped out of it, and shook my head, looking for something else to put my mind on. Only then did I see that Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Sr. were at the front table. _When did **they** come in_?

"What was that for?" Draco asked.

I turned to look at him, "What was what for?"

"You shook your head," he said.

"Can't I shake my head for no reason?" I asked.

Some of the Durmstrang students laughed a bit and Draco just rolled his eyes.

After the dessert was finished, Professor Dumbledore stood up again.

"The time has come," he announced. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket – just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation –" there was scattered applause, "– and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." There was a much louder round of applause for him. He acknowledged it with a wave of his hand and a big smile, while Mr. Crouch did no such thing.

Once the applause stopped, Professor Dumbledore continued. "Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament, and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

Everyone seemed to snap to attention at the word 'champions' and Professor Dumbledore seemed to notice. He smiled and said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Argus Filch approached Professor Dumbledore with a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels that looked quite old. Perhaps it went as far back as when the first tournament began.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways... their magical prowess – their daring – their powers of deduction – and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At that last word, the Hall grew silent, no other sound was made until Professor Dumbledore continued.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

He took out his wand and tapped the top of the casket three times. The lid slowly creaked open, and Professor Dumbledore reached inside it to pull out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. The most fascinating part of it was how it was filled to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Professor Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet on top of it.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage wizards yield to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"Can't wait," I whispered to Becky. "Back to bed to get warmer."

She nodded her head vigorously.

We looked to Lissy and Trixy to get them down to bed with us, but they were deep in conversation with the Durmstrang students. Viktor was the only one just staying silent. He hadn't even looked over at the two young girls.

Professor Karkaroff bustled over to his students and said, "Back to the ship, then." He turned to Viktor, "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Viktor shook his head as he pulled his furs back on.

The Durmstrang boy nearest to Lissy asked him hopefully, "Professor, _I_ vood like some vine."

"I wasn't offering it to _you,_ Poliakoff," Professor Karkaroff snapped at him randomly. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy –"

He glanced at me, but quickly turned and led his students towards the doors.

"How rude," I said softly.

"Wha –?" Draco said distractedly.

I rolled my eyes as I noticed Professor Karkaroff was now paused in front of the doors – frozen – and staring right at Harry. The Durmstrang students looked at him curiously as well. I always wondered how Harry got so used to people staring at him and his scar whenever they first met him. It seemed very annoying.

'Professor Moody' walked up behind him and stood standard, leaning heavily on his staff, staring at him with dislike. "Yeah, that's Harry Potter," he growled.

Professor Karkaroff spun around and his face went white within an instant, the look on his face a mixture of mingled fear and fury. "You!" he said, looking oddly as though he was hoping he wasn't really seeing him.

"Me," he replied grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

Indeed, many students were waiting behind them, a lot wondering what the holdup was.

Without another word, Professor Karkaroff left the hall.

Becky and I looked at each other, our eyebrows raised in interest.

The next day, Becky and I woke to Trixy and Lissy vigorously shaking us awake. I took a glance at my alarm clock. It was earlier than I would normally wake for breakfast on a Saturday morning, so I just groaned and turned over on my stomach.

"No! Come on, let's go watch students put their names into the fire!" Lissy said.

Another groan and I sat up. Trixy and Becky were standing, Becky getting her robes out to change into.

"All right then, wait for us in the common room," I said grumpily.

Lissy and Trixy squealed excitedly and hurried out while we got dressed.

"So much excitement over a competition that could kill people," I grumbled softly, finishing up and putting my wand in my pocket.

"Well, we should humor them," she said with a shrug.

I chuckled and we made our way down where Lissy and Trixy pulled us along. In the entrance hall there were about thirty people sitting around the Goblet of Fire, many just examining it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood there and as we came in Fred, George, and Lee hurried down the staircase, all three looking excited.

Fred something in a whisper to the three of them, in which I heard Ron respond, "What?"

"The Aging Potion, dung brains," Fred replied.

"One drop each," George said, rubbing his hands together jovially. "We only need to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," Lee said, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," Hermione said warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.

"I agree with her this time," I whispered to Becky humorously, wondering what would happen.

Lissy and Trixy looked from us to them with interest.

"Ready?" Fred asked the other two, all quivering with excitement. "C'mon then – I'll go first –"

Fred pulled out a slip of parchment from his pocket, walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes. Then, with everyone's eyes on him, he took a great deep breath and stepped over it.

For a second it looked like it worked, George certainly thought so for he jumped right in after him with a yell of triumph... but in the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound and both of them were hurled out of the golden circle. They landed ten feet away, and with a loud popping noise both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

The entrance hall rang with laughter – I almost think Becky laughed the hardest – even Fred and George laughed as they stood and took a good look at each other. _Deja vu, darnit._

"I did warn you," a deep, amused voice said. We all turned to see Professor Dumbledore walking out of the Great Hall, surveying the twins with his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summer, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Thought I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

The four of us giggled softly at this as Fred and George set off for the hospital wing accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter.

We went in for breakfast, which I cut short – I ate a piece of toast and drank a glass of orange juice.

"Where are you going?" Becky asked as I stood up.

"Professor Trelawney," I replied. "I need to see her about this Inner Eye thing, it's driving me crazy."

"I'll go with you!" Lissy said, quickly standing and following me.

"You sure? It's all the way up in the tallest tower," I said.

She nodded with a smile on her face.

Up by Professor Trelawney's room, Lissy and I just stood and gasped for breath for a minute. _Why did I think it was a good idea to run up?_

The circular trapdoor on the ceiling opened instantly and the silver ladder descended to the ground at my feet. I climbed up it and into the room – still the strangest room I had ever set foot in. It had twenty circular tables in the claustrophobically small room. It had many teacups and its perfume smell sickened me.

Professor Trelawney walked up to us – a thin woman with large glasses that magnified her eyes and wore many things that made noise as she walked. "My dear, how wonderful to see you again," she said to me in her normal soft, misty voice. She turned to Lissy, "It's nice to see you –"

"I need you to take away my Inner Eye or give me some way to block it," I said to her, not wanting to give introductions and waste time.

She looked at me in surprise. "My dear... this is quite something now, you can't handle your Inner Eye?"

I sighed in exasperation, "I _could_ possibly, but I really just want it to be gone!"

She looked rather confused by me. "You should be honored –" her misty voice was gone, but I really didn't care.

"Well, I'm _not_," I said. "_Please make it go away_."

She looked like she was thinking quickly and continued her misty voice. "One way... is to help make it only show up in your dreams so it doesn't suddenly come up while you're awake. What do you think of that?" She seemed expectant.

"I... I guess that will work," I said softly, slightly disappointed.

"That is the best I can do, dear," she said with care, and gestured to a small rounded table. "Take a seat, I will be gone only a moment – oh, and you, dear, please hold her hand. I sense you've had one dream that followed someone else in possibly the exact same moment as you slept?" I nodded, "I warn you may possibly have more of those _and _looks into the future – there is a lot going on this year." Then she seemed to float away.

Lissy and I sat at the table, and she held my left with her right. "What does Professor Trelawney teach?" she asked curiously.

"Divination," I replied. "I didn't choose to take her class, but I came up here with Professor Snape last year and she predicted I would get my Inner Eye... by the way, how are your classes?" I wouldn't say it, but I was nervous.

"Great, I'm doing perfectly. Professor Snape is rather rude to the Gryffindors though... I just don't understand it..." she said softly.

I nodded grimly, "He favorites Slytherins, I'm not going to lie. He'll never stop. He takes points away from Gryffindor at every chance he gets."

"He's rather bat-like the way he swoops into the dungeons and teaches with sneers on his face."

I burst into laughter, which relieved me of most of my nervousness. "My exact thoughts."

Professor Trelawney took a light drop down into the seat next to me, "All right, my dear, will you please look at this?"

It was a pendulum. "You're going to hypnotize me?" I asked, slightly dubious.

She nodded seriously, and so I just looked at it. "Follow it," she commanded softly.

The pendulum started to rock back and forth, I followed it with my eyes, finding I slowly relaxed and I soon thought of nothing but to followed the movement of the pendulum with my eyes. I felt like I was sleeping, it felt refreshing.

A snap sounded and I shook myself awake, looking around me almost forgetting where I was. I looked to Lissy, who looked rather dreamy, then to Professor Trelawney who seemed triumphant.

"It worked?" I asked.

The day seemed to go by normally after that, and at the Halloween feast the Goblet of Fire now stood in front of Professor Dumbledore's chair. It seemed to go by a lot slower than usual for that time of year, everyone around me was tense and anxious for the choosing of the champions.

When the golden plates and goblets were finally empty, everyone instantly started talking excitedly. The sound only died down when Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet – on either side of him, Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff looked as tense and expectant as anyone else. Ludo Bagman beamed and winked at everyone, Mr. Crouch looked quite uninterested.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Professor Dumbledore said. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber –" he gestured to the door behind the staff table, "– where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; all the candle except those inside the carved pumpkins extinguished instantly. We were plunged into semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire shone more brightly than anything else, the flames so bright it hurt to look at it.

The flames inside the goblet suddenly turned red, sparks flew from it, then a tongue of flame shot into the air with a charred piece of parchment fluttering out of it. The whole room gasped.

Professor Dumbledore caught it and held it at arm's length to read it in the light of the flames that had returned to its blue-white color.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, "will be Viktor Krum."

A storm of applause and cheering filled the hall. It wasn't a surprise, not that I had Seen it, but he did seem rather like he would be the best champion for it than anyone else. Viktor rose from the Slytherin table and slouched up to Professor Dumbledore, turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door.

"Bravo, Viktor!" Professor Karkaroff boomed loudly over the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting soon died down, all attention on the goblet once more. The flames turned red again and a second piece of parchment shot out of it to also be caught by Professor Dumbledore.

"The champion for Beauxbatons, is Fleur Delacour!" he said.

Clapping and cheering once more.

Draco poked me, when I turned to look at him he pointed at the Ravenclaw table at the Beauxbatons students. Fleur Delacour went up – a girl with long, silvery blonde hair – and other girls looked very disappointed, more than disappointed even. Two of them burst into tears.

I looked at Marcus who stared at the girls – no, one of them – with a saddened look on his face.

_Okay,_ I thought. I then turned to find someone waving at me... it was Addy. A dark blonde haired girl in Hufflepuff in my year, she'd been friends with Becky and I but then there was the problem with our difference in Houses. She looked at me meaningfully, but I shrugged my shoulders at her, _what does she want to tell me?_

When Fleur had disappeared from sight, there was even more tense silence. Now would be the choosing of the Hogwarts champion. Again, the flames burned red and a piece of parchment flew out and Professor Dumbledore caught it from the tip.

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" he said.

All the Hufflepuffs jumped to their feet, screaming and stamping as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly. When Cedric disappeared, Professor Dumbledore spoke again.

"Excellent!" he called happily. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champions on, you will contribute in a very real –"

But he suddenly stopped speaking, for the fire in the goblet turned red once more, sparks flying out of it. _Oh, right,_ I thought, feeling horrible. A long flame suddenly shot into the air and on top of it came another piece of parchment.

Professor Dumbledore automatically reached out a long hand and seized it. He held it out and stared at it. There was a very long pause as he stared at it.

He cleared his throat, and called out –

"_Harry Potter_."


	17. Chapter 17

I looked over at Harry just as everyone else did, and he looked completely dumfounded by this – stunned – and as if hoping he'd heard wrong... I was certainly not jealous of him like all other students seemed to be as the whispering began.

"Of course," Draco said with a scowl.

The Gryffindor table all stared at him, many with open mouths. He said something to Ron and Hermione, looking utterly perplexed.

"Harry Potter!" Professor Dumbledore called out once more. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Hermione pushed him to his feet and he stumbled slightly. Making his way down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, everyone stared right at him.

_Guilt... guilt..._

Once in front of Dumbledore, Professor Dumbledore said something I didn't hear – in any case, Harry walked off along the teachers' table, past a shocked Professor Hagrid, and through the door out of the Great Hall.

It was silent for a while after. Madame Maxime looked absolutely furious and Professor Karkaroff smiled as if it were some sort of joke and it wasn't serious.

Professor Dumbledore said, "You are all dismissed for the night... sweet dreams..." His normal jovial self was all gone, and so was the mood of excitement.

As we all stood up, the Great Hall burst into angry conversations about Harry getting in the tournament unfairly. To me; after the headmasters, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, 'Professor Moody', Mr. Crouch, and Mr. Bagman left; the maddest person I'd ever seen was Marcus. He literally cursed all the way back to the common room with Draco while Becky and I walked behind them at a comfortable distance away.

"You'd think the whole school would hear them by now," Becky whispered to me.

"They're probably _all_ too busy with their own cursing," I replied with a heavy sigh.

We reached the common room, walking in with the rest of Slytherin House – well, Becky and I were the ones walking, everyone else was pretty much stampeding through to their own rooms.

I sat down on the couch with a sigh, glad it was only Saturday night. Everyone would certainly be grumpy-looking tomorrow if there were school... Harry would be trying to stay out of the way of everyone's anger. Hopefully, he still had Ron and Hermione on his side... he wouldn't really care if I wanted to help him.

"Of _course_ Potter got in! He gets away with everything, so he probably thought, 'why not this?'!" Draco thundered.

Becky let out a scoff, and Draco rounded on her.

"Ah, but let me guess, _you _don't think so!"

"I never said a word on the subject, so don't you talk to me like that _bucko_!" Becky snapped back.

Draco fumed, breathing heavily, but he didn't say anything else to her.

Marcus paced by a corner, seemingly ready to pound the face in of anyone who came near him... or was he getting ready to punch the wall?

"Both of you calm down," I said softly. "So, Harry Potter has the spotlight as always, it really shouldn't surprise you."

Draco stopped looking angry and was suddenly smug. "Potter won't even last a _minute_ in the tournament."

_I wouldn't go **that** far, but if it really makes you happy... okay then._

Marcus smiled at that and started to leave the commn room, saying, "I've got to tell –" but then he stopped, and instead sat on the couch next to me.

"Who?" I asked, perplexed.

"Hm?" he mumbled in surprise.

"Who have you got to tell something to?"

"Oh.. uh.. no one."

I raised an eyebrow, but Marcus quickly changed the subject. "We should go to bed – it'll be a long day tomorrow now that the excitement's over." He stood and left to he boys' common room.

Looking to Draco and Becky I asked, "What was _that_ about?"

They shrugged their shoulders wordlessly.


	18. Chapter 18

_Wormtail screamed in pain. "No...! N-No my Lord, I meant nothing –"_

"_Of course you did!" screeched the high-pitched voice of Lord Voldemort. "Wormtail, you talk highly of yourself with what you've said, but I **trust** my daughter!"_

"_B-But, my Lord, if you really think about it –"_

"_I will do no such thing! Together with my **most trusted** death eater, they will restore me to my former power! I have no complaints..."_

"_I-I understand m-my Lord.. please forgive my stupidity. I do not know her like you do."_

"_Indeed not. I may be the only one to truly understand her, which she needs. Heaven knows I needed it when I was her age, both of us pretending to be the kind ones to other idiots...You do not understand, Wormtail, no one does..."_

I sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and clutching at my heart. What did I just see?! What did Wormtail accuse me of that made dad _so_ _angry?_ Whatever it was... it would be a first that he's right.

"Melody?" Becky had just woken up. I glanced over at her, trying to be sure not to show my face, and saw she didn't look bleary eyed but extremely awake.

"W-What time is it?" I asked, still a bit confused.

"Look at your clock..." she replied. _Oh, of course, she caught on, she's making me show my face to her. Okay, sure, I'll show my face._

I turned to look at the clock, the numbers 7:15 showed off rather brightly than I needed for such an early wake-up. And how long had Becky been up? Probably since six... I never see her wake up. Why am I actually changing the subject of interest in my mind? Good gosh that vision must have really got to me.

Apparently it did.

Becky shot out of her bed and sat next to me on the edge of my bed. "Please tell me what you dreamed about, Melody! You have to tell me! Every time you have a bad dream, your face gets whiter every time... this is the worse I've seen it!"

I don't want her to worry so... ooh, _what_ can I say? Thankfully, I didn't have to say anything.

Lissy burst into our dormitory and was in absolute tears. "Melody!" Becky jumped out of the way as Lissy threw herself into my arms.

"Oh dear, oh dear, what's wrong?" I asked in shock, hugging her tightly.

"Her face is as white as yours..." Becky said softly.

Lissy looked up at me. Indeed, her face was white as snow. No... no, no, _please_ don't tell me she saw what I saw!

But of course she did.. she must have. Professor Trelawney warned us of this... oh no.

"Becky, could you get us some tea?" I asked her. "Tea with a bit of honey?"

Becky nodded, and frantically got dressed. No sooner had she done that than she was out of the room.

I looked down at Lissy, "What did you see?"

Lissy shook her head, tears falling down her face.

"Lissy, I think you saw the same thing I did..."

"So Professor Trelawney was right?" Lissy asked, choking up.

"Yes..." I said softly. "Seems she was."

We agreed never to speak of it, and by the time Becky came back, the two of us had calmed down a bit. I was able to think clearly again... able to think about what this meant. Dad felt like he could connect with me. _I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing._

"_What did you dream_?" Becky asked again.

I drank a small sip of tea, thinking lightly about what to say. "I remember it was horrible but... I don't remember what happened."

Becky let out a sigh of exasperation.

_Sorry, Becky._

Breakfast was going by smoothly... for Lissy. She was all happy and bubbly again, talking to Trixy about homework and talking through stuff for upcoming quizzes to be sure she understood the material. And, meanwhile, I was lost in my thoughts.

_What could Wormtail have accused me of? Treachery? Oh, please, he wouldn't know, the idiot he was. But, more important... dad really trusted me. I'm close to him, that could be good for future reference, right? Oh, but what would be said about that? If he comes to power again, he might just put me at the center of attention as his daughter... I **really** don't **need** that!_

My mind wandered back to the potion. _I'm going to need to put my magic into it. Emotions are good, if I give him my emotions maybe something could be done about his heartless soul. It might not change his mind about going about killing everyone, but he'd have feelings like love and compassion, that could be good... or would those feelings survive within such a **dark** soul?_

"Ouch!" I came out of my thoughts as something bit my finger extremely hard. "Ebony, sometimes I think you're going to kill me with that angry attitude!" It was just my mom's _crabby_ owl. _Okay, 'just?' What, do I think an evil spirit is going to attack me soon? Perhaps the ghost of –_

I opened the letter, it was from grandpa.

Dear Melody,

It would be best for me to inform you that some time this week is the weighing of the wands for the contestants of the Triwizard Tournament. I want to tell you this, for due to what a great experience it will be for you, I would like to ask you to join in, though you'll be missing a class, to help me. I know how much you would love to assist. I will see you then.

Best Wishes,

Grandpa Garrick Ollivander

A smile flitted across my face. _**Yes**!_

"Melody!"

I looked up. All my friends were staring right at me. "Yes?" I asked, wondering what was going on. _Did I miss something?_

"It's like you're not noticing us at all..." Marcus said, touching his hand to my forehead.

"Well, blimey, I don't have a fever if that's what you're implying," I said. "By the way, when did you all get here?" Last time I'd looked around, there was just Lissy, Trixy, Becky, and myself. Now the guys were all suddenly there.

"We've been here for about ten minutes," Draco said.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I got a bit too lost in thought..." I said sheepishly.

"It's all right," Marcus said sweetly, pulling me close to kiss me on the forehead. "Just don't talk to Ebony before us again."

"Awww!" Becky bubbled happily.

Marcus and I snorted with laughter.

"By the way, what's the letter about?" Marcus asked, looking over my shoulder at it. "Ah.. I forgot they did that."

I showed the letter to everyone else.

"What's the point of weighing the wands?" Lissy asked curiously.

"So they can be sure the contestants' wands are in working order and will still work throughout the tasks. They'll definitely want to use them." I said.

"I can't wait for the first task," Draco said with a smile. "I bet that Potter won't last five minutes. Anyone else want to make a bet?"

"Count me out," I said, standing up. "I'll be going to the library, then."

"But you haven't eaten!" Becky said, aghast.

"Oh, I'm not hungry," I said with a wave of my hand. I kissed the top of Marcus' head and said, "Ta ta!"

"I'm coming with you!" Becky said, rushing after me.

"Do you _really_ not want me to be alone, or is it because it looks like Fred and George are coming, too?" I asked. Indeed, Fred and George saw me get up, and now they were slowly standing up and leaving their table to follow.

"Hm, a little bit of both," she replied with a happy chuckle.

"I somehow doubt that."

"Which part?"

"The little bit of both. Seems more like a little bit for me, and a _lot_ – and I _really mean a lot_ – for the twins. Most especially, _Geor_ –"

I ducked before she could hit me upside the head. "_Ooh_, looks like I've unleashed the true temper and humiliation within you!" I said, raising my arms up. "How is this even possible, may I ask to the world at large?"

Becky couldn't stop her own laughing at this.

"Well, seriously, I thought you couldn't be embarassed. I mean –"

"This is different, just don't!" Becky said seriously.

"Cross my heart, I will say not a word of the subject again," I said.

"Did you help him get in, Melody? Harry, I mean." Fred and George asked me seriously. "It's okay, we won't tell... we'd just like to know... that, and why you didn't do it for us as well."

"This will be the first and last you will hear from me on this subject," I said. "I did no such thing, and even if I had tried helping him, I would not have succeeded, because you know what? _There is no way to get past that line unless you are seventeen or older._"

"But you're smart. Surely –"

"Oh, yeah, of course, use my smart-arse brain against me, but I wouldn't have gotten past it _myself_ if I'd wanted to try. I can't get past everything magical, especially not if Professor Dumbledore put it up."

Fred sat next to me. "But... surely –"

"Don't even try with me what Becky did to George. I have a boyfriend." I said to him warningly.

George blushed. Becky giggled.

"But he's –"

"Nothing you can do," I said quickly. _Goodness, never saw it coming for Fred to flirt._

He looked like he was going to try something else, so I quickly stood.

"I need to check the shelves for a book to... to... To look up something for Ancient Runes, since there's a rune I can't quite recall." _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

"I'll come with," Fred said, standing up.

I put my hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down, "No thanks." I sped away and hid in the shelves, peeking over to see Fred shrugging his shoulders and Becky talking to George animatedly.

"You can flirt with him, it's not like your boyfriend's doing any differently," a soft voice said behind me.

I spun around in surprise. "Oh! Addy you... wait, what was that you said?"

Addy sat in a chair reading a rather large book. "You heard me."

"But I don't understand."

"Melody, don't you see? Flint is cheating on you with one of the girls from that Beaxbatons school."

Silence. Then, "Really? There's not a conversation of 'Hi Melody, how are you doing?' 'Oh, hello Addy, I'm quite well, how about you?' 'Oh, everything is just swell.'? None of that? Just plain go straight to this point I don't believe?"

Addy sighed in exasperation, but smiled. "I forgot about your sarcastic sense of humor."

"I just can't –"

"But you must!"

"Shh!" Madam Pince walked by the bookshelf we were by, and clucked disapprovingly at Addy's tone.

Addy rolled her eyes, "Haven't you seen the signs? You two haven't been very loving in public like you used to, _and_ he looking over at that girl with worry after bursting into tears for not getting into the tournament."

"There were two girls that burst into tears for that, he could just be feeling bad for the both of them. And as for our lack of affection, he's just... nervous for the N.E.W.T.s."

Addy looked as though she thought quickly, "Before you left to come here, you were showing small affections toward him and the girl looked as though she would have liked to throw her fork at you. She was _really_ jealous."

"She could just be thinking about how handsome he is and wants to date him. Nothing I can't handle."

Addy gave a groan of frustration. "I – I saw the two of them kissing!"

"When was this?!" _Could Addy be making all of this up? She must be... well, Melody, you haven't looked into his mind lately... ooh, stop that! Thoughts belong to others, not me, I would **hate** it if people knew what **I** thought._

"I was visiting France, too, for a vacation. My brothers and I were walking along on the streets, and I saw them in a dark alley –"

"It was dark, it could've been some couple that wanted to be alone."

"Melody, listen!"

"No, no, I can't believe that, Addy. No, I'm sorry," I said, walking quickly back to the table. I'd rather endure Fred's flirting than anything Addy was saying.

Monday morning, we made our way to our Care of Magical Creature's class. The moment Draco set eyes on Harry was the moment a sneer took root upon his face. Becky and I steered away from him so as to avoid getting between them. I couldn't help but notice that Ron was as far away from Harry as you could possibly be. Aw, no...

"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Vincent and Greg. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer... Half the Triwizard e Champions have died... how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."

Vincent and Greg laughed at his 'great joke,' but he stopped his taunting and they stopped laughing when Professor Hagrid came out from the back of his cabin balancing in his arms a teetering tower of crates. Each one held a now-very-large Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Professor Hagrid then proceeded to tell us all that he believed the reason the skrewts had been killing one another was because of an excess of held-back energy, and that his solution was for each of us to fix a leash on one and take it for a short walk.

"That's it, my impending death will be because I took a Blast-Ended Skrewt for a _walk_." I said softly to Becky, who chuckled.

"Take this thing for a walk?" Draco repeated in disgust. I actually don't blame him for this today. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"

"Roun' the middle," Professor Hagrid said, proceeding to demonstrate this for us. "Er – yeah might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Harry – you come here an' help me with this big one..."

The skrewts were over three feet long, and after putting the leashes on them they ran all over the place. Many people were being dragged around on their stomachs with no ability to get back to their feet, and I ran after mine so it wouldn't happen to me though its end would explode and send it shooting very fast in one direction so it was hard to catch up.

_We must all look like a bunch of **bloody** idiots to anyone who happens to look outside the windows at us, _I thought dryly, running out of breath and energy. _Would this be interesting for people in History of Magic to watch, or what?_

A few days passed in which Draco excitedly talked about these badges he was going to make when we were in the common room doing homework, and I just pretended to listen while Marcus had his arm around me and listened intently.

_Could what Addy had told me be true? I don't want to believe it, but she wouldn't be one to lie, right? **Right**? Oh, heavens, I don't even know what to think about it._

One day, a lot of the Slytherin students came to breakfast with new badges on their chests with the words:

SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY –

THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!

"Would you like badges," Draco asked Becky and I.

"No thanks," we said.

"Why?" he asked. It sounded like a whine.

"I think there's enough of you all wearing them to make the point clear. I don't need my robes to get microscopic little holes in them just to show the world what I think." I said.

Becky's reason was this, "I'm quite fine with my S.P.E.W. Badge."

"What's spew?" he asked.

"It's S.P.E.W, not _spew._ You _do_ know that when people spell things out, it's supposed to be an acronym, right?" Becky asked him in annoyance.

I rolled my eyes and told Draco, "You _really_ don't want to know what it's for. Just don't ask. Trust me."

After lunch that afternoon was Double Potions with the Gryffindors. We waited outside the dungeons for class to start. Harry and Hermione were last to come from lunch, and I saw Draco's smirk as they walked up.

Harry's eyes were drawn to the badges most of the Slytherins were wearing.

"Like them, Potter?" Draco asked loudy. "And this isn't all they do – look!"

_This_ I hadn't expected to be put into it... but, knowing Draco, of course it was there. He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message changed to this:

POTTER STINKS

He and the others howled with laughter. Harry's face burned a bright red.

"Oh _very_ funny, really _witty_," Hermione said sarcastically to Pany.

"Want one, Granger?" Draco asked, holding out a badge to her. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

_Ugghhhh, **now** you've done it, Draco..._

Harry had reached for his his wand, and everyone scrambled out of the way.

"Harry!" Hermione warned him. _At least she can keep a cool head._

"Go on, then, Potter," Draco said quietly, taking out his own wand.

"Draco!" I said. He ignored me.

Draco continued talking, "Moody's not here to look after you now – do it, if you've got the guts –"

There was a very short, split second in which the two stared each other down, and then they acted at the exact same time.

Harry yelled, "_Furnunculus!_"

And Draco, "_Densaugeo!_"

A very horrible setback was that their spells didn't hit each other, but bystanders. Harry's spell hit Greg, and Draco's hit Hermione. Greg covered his nose with his hands after giving a shout of pain, on which there were great ugly boils springing up. Hermione clutched at her mouth in a panic.

Ron gave a bellow of, "Hermione!" He hurried forward to see what had happened to her and dragged her hand away from her face. Her front teeth – already larger than average – were growing at a very alarming rate. She felt her teeth and gave a terrified cry. _Oh, jeez..._

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice. _Of course, Severus, now is a **perfect **time for you to give a scary and menacing appearance – **not**!_

Becky and I stood off to the side as other clamoured to give their explanations to the professor. He got tired of it soon enought, and pointed a long finger at Draco saying, "Explain."

"Potter attacked me, sir –"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted exasperatedly.

"– and he hit Goyle – look –"

Professor Snape examined Greg's face, which was now absolutely _covered_ with boils. He then calmly stated, "Hospital wing, Goyle."

"Malfoy got Hermione! _Look_!" Ron said hurriedly, forcing Hermione to show Professor Snape her teeth, which had now grown past her collar.

Professor Snape just looked at her coldly and said, "I see no difference."

Becky's mouth, and my own, dropped wide open. _Severus... why must you be so mean?_

Hermione let out a small whimper, her eyes filling up with tears. She turned on her heel, ran all the way up the corridor, and vanished from sight.

Harry and Ron started shouting at Professor Snape at the exact same time... which was probably good considering I don't blame them for the words they must want to call him after what he just did.

"Let's see," he said when they finally piped down. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

Harry and Ron went in first, and the rest of us followed. Becky and I went in last, spotting the last table open, which was closest to Harry... who sat all alone. Ron was instead seated with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.

Professor Snape seemed to float to the front of the costume and, dracula-like, turned towards us with his cape wrapped around him.

"Antidotes!" he said, looking around at us with his eyes glittering with, most likely, excitemenet. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one..." He looked right at Harry.

There was then a knock on the dungeon.

Colin Creevey edged into the room, beaming at Harry and me, and walked up to Professor Snape.

"Yes?" Professor Snape said curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter and Melody Riddle upstairs."

Professor Snape stared down at Colin, whose smile faded.

"Potter and Riddle have another hour of Potions to complete," he replied coldly. "They will come upstairs when this class is finished."

Colin went pink. "Sir – sir, Mr. Bagman wants them," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs... and Mr. Bagman said they needed Melody for something, too..."

"Very well, very well," the professor snapped in annoyance. "Both of you, leave your things here. I want you, Potter, back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir – they've got to take their things with them," Colin squeaked, still nervous. "All the champions –"

"Very _well_!" he said. _Well, someone's very cranky today._ "Potter, Riddle – take your bags and get out of my sight!"

The three of us quickly headed out before his temper could get any worse. Once out of the classroom, Colin was back to his normal, cheerful self. Harry, however, looked rather deflated about this.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Harry?" Colin asked the moment the dungeon door closed. "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"

"Yeah, really amazing," Harry said dryly. "What do they want photos for, Colin?"

"The _Daily Prophet_, I think!"

"Great, exactly what I need. More publicity. What do they need _you_ for?" Harry had actually turned his attention to me.

"Oh..." I thought he was going to ignore me the whole way there. Guess not. "My grandpa's coming in to check the wands... he thought it would be a good experience for me to take a look at them with him."

Harry nodded. He might sort of trust me after last year, but he was definitely not happy with what was happening so far this year. Triwizard Tournament? I'd die just hearing my name be called out.

"Good luck!" Colin said when we reached the correct room. Harry knocked on the door, and the two of us walked in.

It was a rather small classroom, the other champions were already there. Ludo Bagman was there, too, talking to a witch in magenta robes who didn't look familiar, but who was probably very important.

Ludo spotted Harry and bounded right at him, meanwhile I got out of the way.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come... nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment – looks like one is here now –" _Who? Oh, he was talking about me... heh._

"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated, looking over his shoulder at me questioningly.

Ludo answered, though. "We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead. The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch he'd been talking to before. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the _Daily Prophet_..."

_Oh... Rita Skeeter... that horrible woman who writes the articles that pretty much say 'lies' all over them? I only read one of her articles, and when one is a certain way, all the others she writes are the exact same._

"Maybe not _that_ small, Ludo," Rita said, looking at Harry as if he was going to have _loads_ to tell her. "I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start? The youngest champion, you know... to add a bit of color?"

"Certainly!" Ludo replied. "That is – if Harry has no objection?"

"Er –" Harry began to say.

"Lovely," Rita said. _Ooh, she won't even let him **say** yes or no!_ Rita then had Harry's upper arm in hand and pulled him into a broom cupboard.

"I suppose you need secrecy for an article as big as his would make," Ludo said to me, still smiling broadly.

"Sure, if you want to suffocate in a tight space instead of give good answers," I replied.

Ludo burst into laughter, and slapped his hand on my shoulder. "That's a good joke!"

When he didn't look at me, I rolled my eyes. _I was being completely serious about that._ I looked around the room and caught Viktor's eyes, he smirked. I waved a hand at him as if to say 'I don't care' and he just gave a small laugh – not one I heard, but I know he did one.

Ludo left me to talk to the photographers and Cedric walked up to me instead. _What does he want, I wonder?_

"I'm sorry, what exactly are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help weigh the wands... or at least observe." I said. "My grandpa is Ollivander, so he thought it would be nice to allow me to come see this."

"Really? You truly are his granddaughter?" he asked in surprise.

"The one and only," I said.

He smiled. _Charming, but not for me, for the girls who practically **fling** themselves at him, perhaps_. "Do you _want _to be here?"

"Oh, yes," I said with a vigorous nod. "I love learning about wands – I swear, I'm not being sarcastic – it's really just fascinating. Grandpa has had yet to teach me about how you know when a wand's not exactly in perfect working order... however, your wands are probably all fine considering just about anyone would notice that their wands were too old to continue."

He took his wand out, "Yeah, I thought so."

_His **wand**!_ "Your wand is _beautiful_!" I said in awe. It really was. From where I stood, I could see the wood was ash, and it was just plain _amazing_! "You take care of it _really_ well..."

Cedric smiled appreciatively.

_Ash... so he's probably very stubborn and **very** courageous. No **wonder** the Goblet of Fire chose him, he is an **ideal** candidate for the tournament._

Just then, Professor Dumbledore walked in, closely followed by grandpa. Grandpa looked around, and once he spotted me, he quickly made his way over and stood next to me. Cedric, in the meantime, went to stand by the other two champions.

Professor Dumbledore looked around. "And where might our fourth champion be?"

"Ah, in the broom cupboard with Skeeter. I think it's time for you to save him," I said, to which a few people chuckled, especially grandpa.

"I _hate_ that woman," grandpa mumbled to me as Professor Dumbledore made his way over to the broom cupboard.

"I'm right there with you," I whispered back to him.

Harry took his place with the champions and Professor Dumbledore sat down at the judges' table.

"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" Professor Dumbledore said. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

I followed grandpa into the empty space in the middle of the room.

"Mademoiselle Delacour," he said politely, "could we have you first, please?"

Fleur came over and handed him her wand.

I looked at it and was surprised by its beauty, not as beautiful as Cedric's because of polishing but for naturality.

"Hmmm..." grandpa said, twirling it between his fingers as though it were a baton. It shot out a small number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes to examine it closely. I leaned in as well.

"Looks good," I mumbled, and he just nodded.

"Yes, nine and a half inches... inflexible... rosewood... and containing... dear me..."

_Rosewood? Grandpa's never used that one before... ugh, Fleur's a mystery to me, then. Darnit._

Fleur replied before grandpa could say anything else, "An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela. One of my grandmuzzer's."

_Ooh... **fascinating!**_

"Yes," grandpa replied, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands... however, to each his own, and if this suits you..."

_Mental note: veela hair makes a very temperamental wand, just don't even try making one._

Grandpa ran his fingers along the wand now to be sure it was full and there were no cracks or crevices – for if there were, then that wand is breaking and it would be dangerous to have around. But, this wand was okay, for when he stopped he instantly went to test its spell performance in which he mutter, "_Orchideous!_" and a bunch of flowers sprung from the tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," grandpa said, scooping up the flowers to hand them and the wand to Fleur. "Mr. Diggory, you next."

Fleur glided back to her seat and smiled at Cedric as he passed her to give grandpa his wand.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" grandpa asked more enthusiastically as Cedric handed over his oh-so-beautiful wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn... must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches... ash... pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition... You treat it regularly?"

"Polished it last night," Cedric said proudly, grinning.

Grandpa used Cedric's wand to send a stream of silver smoke rings across the room, and announced that it gave a satisfactorial performance. Then, "Mr. Krum, if you please."

Viktor got up and came over to hand his wand to grandpa, scowling. _Well, doesn't **he** like to make everything entertaining?_

"Hmm," grandpa said, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken?" I instantly leaned in toward Viktor's wand at that sentence. Indeed, the formation of the wand – like Fleur's – was completely different than grandpa's. Grandpa liked to make his wands smooth, while Gregorovitch made his a bit more rough, perhaps so it would be hard to drop. "A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I... however..."

He lifted the wand above his eyes, turning it over and over.

"Yes... hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he asked Viktor, who just nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees... quite rigid... ten and a quarter inches... _Avis_!"

The wand let out a sound like a shot from a gun, and some small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window.

"Good," grandpa said, handing Viktor his wand. "Which leaves... Mr. Potter."

Harry got up, walked past Viktor to grandpa, and handed him his wand.

"Aaaaah, yes," grandpa said reminiscently. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."

Grandpa spent a _whole_ lot longer on Harry's wand. _Yup, we were definitely missing all of Potions... hm, Severus must be **furious**. _I thought about his anger and in my mind I laughed hysterically about it, _ah I'm horrible to think that Severus' anger is funny, but last year was just priceless._

Grandpa finally made a fountain of wine shoot out of the end of Harry's wand, and then handed it back to Harry, announcing that his was in perfect condition as well.

Professor Dumbledore stood up, "Thank you all. You may now go back to your lessons now – or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end –"

"I will see you for summer," grandpa said to me as the Ludo shrieked that it was actually time for pictures.

"All right, then," I said with a smile. "How have Jim and Nick been doing?"

"Oh, just swell," he said.

"And mom, grandma, and Blake?"

"All perfectly healthy."

"And you?"

"Right as a feather!" he replied with a laugh.

I smiled brightly, "Okay, see you then."

"No worries about Gerald?"

I thought on this and then said, "Nah, he doesn't need my best wishes."

Grandpa chuckled, "He said the same thing about you before I left to come here. Everyone gives you their love, except him."

"Well, you know him. He _always_ has to be the exception to everything we do," I said.

After that I went to dinner happily.

"So," I said, "who was poisoned in class today?"

"Everyone," Becky said with a laugh. "Snape was _not_ happy about you and Harry Potter leaving early."

"Why are you laughing? He poisoned you!" I said.

"Well, my antidote was perfect, and even if it wasn't he wouldn't let any of us _die_ of poisoning."

"Sometimes, I'm not so sure about that," I said seriously.


End file.
